Good Luck Foods for a Happy and Prosperous New Year

Posted by Annette Bellisari on

5-4-3-2-1...Happy New Year! It's time to celebrate the coming of the new year and new beginnings. From watching the famous ball drop to kissing the right person at midnight, many of the activities we do right before the clock strikes midnight and on New Year’s Day each year are long standing traditions. New Year's superstitions and folklore have come from around the world for decades. No matter what you do on New Year's Eve, know that lots of cultures agree that how you spend New Year's Day will set the precedent for how your year will go. Here's to 2022, y'all!

Pomegranates represent good luck in many cultures for many reasons: Their red color, which represents the human heart, denotes life and fertility; their medicinal properties represent health; and their abundant, round seeds represent prosperity — all things everyone hopes for in any fresh start. Bellisari’s has you covered with our Pomegranate and blue cheese salad, add in kale if desired (https://bellisaris.com/pages/pomegranate-and-blue-cheese-salad).

Pork isn't eaten on New Year's Day only because it's delicious—it is also thought to be good luck. The first reason for this goes back to the pig itself: In order to find food, a pig roots going forward. Pork is also considered good luck because it is so rich in fat, and the fat signifies prosperity. Some people eat pork on the first day of the year in the hopes it will bring a lucky and prosperous year.

In the U.S.A., different food superstitions are followed in different regions, and many are rooted in the South. One theory says that during the Civil War, black-eyed peas were the only foodstuff left after the Yankees decimated the farmers' fields; others believe that the slaves ate the ample legume on Jan. 1 to celebrate the day the Emancipation went into effect. Today, anyone with any Southern blood in them at all eats black-eyed peas on the first day of the new year, usually with some type of greens (collards, kale, spinach, cabbage), as the color signifies money, and a little more of that never hurts. This Bellisari’s recipe will fit the bill when it comes to getting those lucky legumes and forward moving meat into our bellies! Our Saigon Black Eyed Peas and Pork (https://bellisaris.com/pages/saigon-black-eyed-peas-and-pork) could become a New Year’s annual tradition for your family.

Finally, the perfect accompaniment for your black eyed peas and pork is cornbread! And this is another of those foods considered to bring good luck in the new year. A staple for any Southerner's meal, cornbread is especially important as a traditional Southern New Year's Day food. The color is considered to represent gold, and eating it is thought to bring you spending money in the prosperous new year. Our Bellisari’s Blue Cheese Honey and Shallot Corn Muffins (https://bellisaris.com/blogs/thursday-recipes/blue-cheese-honey-shallot-corn-bread-muffins?_pos=1&_sid=71ee5018d&_ss=r) will not be a recipe you save for New Year’s. You’ll use this recipe all year long!

Whether or not your family follows these or other rituals each New Year’s, we at Bellisari’s are wishing you all a very healthy and prosperous year, and we’re happy to help with recipes that are sure to bring you something fabulous to eat with some good luck mixed in to top it all off. Happy New Year from all of us at Bellisari’s!

Pomegranate and blue cheese salad.


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