interesting new year traditions in food

[littlewolf]

here in North Carolina the New Years meal
has black eyed peas and collards or cabbage
the story goes you will make a dollar for every black-eyed pea
you eat

back home in MI my mom would have
either sour kraut or Cole slaw and herring
(she was of Norwegian decent.) my Dad was
German so he was good with that ...

how about you guys ...

[Dave in VA]

1. Here it is

cabbage, black eyed peas, corn bread, green beans with roasted peppers and onions, ham, and various desserts.

And yes I do all the cooking. Everyone else just brings their appetite and a few containers to carry more home!

[Silver Gaia]

2. Spicy black eyed peas with tomatoes and green chilies

paired with jambalaya and collards

[Freddie]

3. Pennsylvania Dutch

MUST have pork and sauerkraut on New year’s day. I hate sauerkraut (there goes my Dutchie cred).

[MOMFUDSKI]

4. In Wisconsin it was

herring in a jar that would bring one good luck in the New Year. My parents would encourage me to just have a little bite but NO. Never did.

[2naSalit]

6. You mean you actually have to EAT it?!!

Last edited Mon Dec 26, 2022, 02:01 AM - Edit history (1)

I thought you just had to have it in your possession, like on the shelf in the pantry or in the fridge even. My parents always had pickled fish in jars and cans in the pantry and the fridge, they actually ate some of that stuff. I would go in another room and gag.
We have Fin in our heritage and a lot of the fish thing came from that end of the family so I thought that, maybe, just having it in store was good luck or something - I never asked - but if, in order to have the good luck* ...if you have to eat it, hell no!


*Which is arbitrary at best, I'm sure!

[peacefreak2.0]

12. One of my earliest memories was eating

pickled herring at my Grandmother’s house. I bought a jar for the holidays. Tried to share it, nobody seems interested. 😂🤣😂🤣😂

[Retrograde]

13. My Polish grandmother did the same in New York

I still like pickled herring though - and it's not just a New Year's thing!

[trof]

15. Pickled herring

Delicious

[eppur_se_muova]

5. Hoppin' John is the one New Years' dish I have heard the most about ...

like many purportedly omnipresent Southern traditions, I never heard of it during my upbringing in the South, but only after I moved away.

Perhaps that's because it's really more of an African-American tradition, and I'm not AA. There are many variations, with black-eyed peas evidently being the later version, but rice, peas, and at least some pork appear to be the essentials. When you mentioned the dollar for each black-eyed pea, that's when I was reminded of Hoppin' John.
https://www.ajc.com/entertainment/dining/saving-southern-recipes-old-fashioned-hoppin-john/uUBhUeCZaAy5QYzF921EhJ/

[yellowdogintexas]

9. I have made Hoppin' John from time to time instead of the pot of peas

It's a nice change.

I also never heard of it until I came across it in a cookbook and decided to try it.

[Warpy]

7. Here in NM, it's tamales

It was tamales for Xmas, too, so these were likely frozen then nuked. They're just as good the second time, nuked.

Tamales were the original MRE, sent out with Aztec raiders because they'd stay hot and good for hours. They take a long time to wrap and steam, so they're a seasonal treat in most families.

I'm glad I left Hoppin' John far behind. Tamales are better.

[yellowdogintexas]

10. we live near one of the large Mexican areas in FW

and the signs for tamales go up about 3 weeks prior to Thanksgiving. There are a ton of places to order them.

My sister in law is 2nd generation Mexican and her mom brings tamales to the holiday parties. They are SO good!

[Warpy]

11. There was a lady who sold them door to door in my neighborhood

and they were fantastic. I think some asshole complained, though, and the public health laws governing food here are stupidly ferocious, so I haven't seen her for a few years. I miss her. Fucking bureaucrats.

[dem in texas]

17. I have made Tamales and Hoppin' John

Not at the Same Time. I live in the DFW area and you better get your Tamale order in early, way before Christmas. Usually a long line at the Tamale Factory.

Have a large ham in the fridge, planned to cook on New Years along with Hoppin' John, collard greens and cornbread. not now, my gas is turned off, have a gas leak in my house, so we are camping out at me daughter's place They couldn't find outside, so they have to go under the house, will be there on Tuesday,

I am just glad I called the gas company. Saw on TV that people in our area were having trouble with gas pressure and I thought that might be my problem. My furnace wasn't putting out enough heat.

[yellowdogintexas]

8. I from KY and live in Texas so of course it is black eyed peas

I think I will steam up a cabbage this year.

I was surprised when visiting my daughter that her mother in law (who is Kurdish/Iranian) keeps black eyed peas in her pantry. Actually Persian food uses a lot of dried beans. One year my daughter & I cooked the peas and I made cornbread; her mother in law had never eaten cornbread and she liked it.

Long years ago I spent a New Year's weekend in Maine with some college friends. His mother always made a boiled dinner. She used a smoked shoulder instead of corned beef, and put potatoes, carrots, turnips, parsnips and rutabaga then packed cabbage on top towards the end.

[hippywife]

14. We didn't have any new year food traditions when I was growing up.

My mom used to mention that black-eyed peas brought luck, but she knew she'd never get us to eat them.

Now, my own is pork roast with sauerkraut. I didn't think I would like sauerkraut until I spent New Year's Day with the family of a roommate. That's what they were having, so to be polite I ate it, and in the process, found I loved it and eat it through the year. But New Year's Day is as convenient an excuse to have pork and sauerkraut as any.

[trof]

16. In coastal Alabama:

Black eyed peas and collards.
Collards = dollars
Black eyed peas = coins (Gold?)
Corn bread just because

Wealth in the New Year

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

18. Because I did not grow up with any New Year food traditions,

I'm constantly amazed by them.

For a while, when I was married and had two kids, I'd have cold cuts and salads out on New Year's Day. It was sort of my tradition for a while, but nothing that stuck.