AS most of the country prepares to welcome in 2019 tomorrow night with delicious foods, booze, yaqona and fireworks, have you ever stopped to think why the New Year celebrations carry such special symbolism?
And why is its celebration so common around the world, as it has been for at least as long as there have been calendars?
Is it tied to something intrinsic in the human species, something profoundly meaningful and important?
It may be that the symbolism we attach to this one moment is rooted in one of the most powerful motivations of all—our instinct to survive and celebrate our existence.
There are hundreds of good luck rituals woven among New Year celebrations.
The Dutch, for whom the circle is a symbol of success, eat donuts.
Greeks bake special Vasilopita cake with a coin inside, bestowing good luck in the coming year on whoever finds it in his or her slice.
Fireworks on New Year’s Eve started in China millennia ago as a way to chase off evil spirits.
The Japanese hold New Year’s Bonenkai, or “forget-the-year parties,” to bid farewell to the problems and concerns of the past year and prepare for a better new one.
Like the Japanese, Fijians practice the bulubulu, the apology ceremony where disagreements and misunderstandings between people are supposed to be resolved, grudges set aside and the slate wiped clean.
This end of year ceremony has been performed in many of my kitchens on New Year’s Eve as the chefs and kitchenhands seek forgiveness for all their mistakes, sick sheets, swears, broken plates and less-than-perfect food that drove me crazy throughout the year.
In most Westernised countries, New Year’s Eve is celebrated with a bottle of champagne, party hats and a kiss at midnight, but look deeply throughout human history and you’ll discover the importance of food in every culture.
As the new year arrives around the globe, special cakes and breads abound, as do long noodles (representing long life), field peas (representing coins), herring (representing abundance) and pigs (representing good luck).
The food rituals vary between cultures, but the general theme is the same: Share a meal with family and friends to usher in a year of prosperity. And for most, each of the food components represent some form of prosperity and money.
Eating grapes in Spain
In many Spanish-speaking nations, at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, they partake in an unusual annual food tradition: they eat one grape for every toll of the clock bell. Some even prepare their grapes, peeling and seeding them, to make sure they will be as efficient as possible when midnight comes. The custom began at the turn of the 20th century and was purportedly thought up by grape producers in the southern part of the country with a bumper crop.
Mexican parcels
Tamales are corn dough dumplings stuffed with meat, cheese and other delicious additions and wrapped in a banana leaf or a corn husk. It makes an appearance at pretty much every special occasion in Mexico but the holiday season is an especially favored time for the food. In many families, groups of women gather together to make hundreds of the little packets to hand out to friends, family and neighbours. On New Year’s, it’s often served with a tripe soup that is famously good for hangovers.
Dutch oily balls
In the Netherlands, fried oil balls, or oliebollen, are sold by street carts and are traditionally consumed on New Year’s Eve and at special celebratory fairs. They are doughnut-like dumplings, similar to a Fijian panikeke, made by dropping a scoop of dough spiked with sultanas or raisins into a deep fryer and then dusted with powdered sugar. They are said to have been first eaten by Germanic tribes in the Netherlands during the Yule time, the period between December 26 and January 6.
German good luck pigs
Pork is revered as a good luck food in many cultures as well as a symbol of prosperity. In Austria and Germany on New Year’s Eve they celebrate the eve of Saint Sylvester. Austrian revelers drink a red wine punch with cinnamon and spices, eat suckling pig for dinner and decorate the table with little pigs made of marzipan. Good luck pigs are made of all sorts of ingredients and are common gifts throughout both Austria and Germany. Vienna bakeries this time of the year will be filled with a variety of pig-shaped sweets including pig-shaped Champagne truffles, marzipan and chocolate in a variety of sizes.
Long life noodles
In Japanese households across the globe, families eat buckwheat soba noodles at midnight on New Year’s Eve to bid farewell to the year gone by and welcome the year to come. The tradition dates back to the 17th century, and the long noodles symbolise longevity and prosperity. The Chinese also serve long noodles for New Year’s festivities to represent long life but be careful not to chop and shorten the noodles as you are said to be bringing bad luck and possibly a shorter life.
New Year’s cake
The tradition of a New Year’s cake is one that spans countless cultures. The Greeks have the Vasilopita, the French the gateau,
Mexicans have the Rosca de Reyes or Kings cake, and Bulgarians enjoy the banitsa. The Chinese have their sticky sweet glutinous rice cake called niangao, which is dipped in egg and fried, whilst the Danish make a cake tower composed of many concentric rings of cake layered atop one another. Most of the cakes are consumed at midnight on New Year’s Eve, though some cultures cut their cake on Christmas and include a hidden gold coin, which symbolises a prosperous year for whomever finds it in their slice. My mum used to do this for us as kids until she realised that coins have more germs than a toilet seat, and that my cousin one time nearly choked on his lucky find.
Lucky italian sausages and sweet balls
Italians celebrate New Year’s Eve often commencing with a traditional sausage and lentil stew that is said to bring good luck. The lentils represent money, good fortune and, in certain households, a stuffed pig’s trotter is added for prosperity. The meal traditional ends with balls of fried dough that are rolled in honey and powdered sugar, and prosecco sparkling wine.
Hopping tasty pork
The African and West Indian slaves brought their folklore to America’s south during the 19th century and has been reinterpreted over the centuries by homecooks and professional chefs. Called “Hoppin’ John”, the New Year’s food tradition is a dish of pork-fl avored field peas (symbolising coins) and rice, frequently served with cooked greens (as they’re the color of money) and cornbread (the colour of gold). The dish is said to bring good luck in the new year.
Scandanavian seacuterie
Just as the ancient Fijians learned to preserve their foods by curing, sundried and smoke, so too did the forefathers of the
Scandinavian people, the Norse Vikings. Eating pickled herring at the stroke of midnight is said to bring a year of prosperity and
bounty as the fish’s silver skin is said to represent the valued mineral. Some eat pickled herring in cream sauce while others have it with onions. One special Polish New Year’s Eve preparation of pickled herring is made by soaking whole salt herrings in water for 24 hours and then layering them in a jar with onions, allspice, sugar and white vinegar. Scandinavians will often include herring in a larger midnight smorgasbord with smoked and pickled fish, pate and meatballs.
So with the new year on the horizon, let us celebrate another year of helping to push our species a little further along the evolutionary time line. And as our ancestors have been doing; Pass the cake, light the fi reworks, and raise a glass to toast: “We survived 2018!”
- Lance Seeto is executive chef at Malamala Beach Club and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism’s Culinary Ambassador
