盤點:西方人的新年美食
For many, January 1 offers an opportunity to forget the past and make a clean start. But instead of leaving everything up to fate, why not enjoy a meal to increase your good fortune? There are a variety of foods that are believed to be lucky and to improve the odds that next year will be a great one. Traditions vary from culture to culture, but there are striking similarities in what's consumed in different pockets of the world: The six major categories of auspicious foods are grapes, greens, fish, pork, legumes, and cakes. Whether you want to create a full menu of lucky foods or just supplement your meal, we have an assortment of recipes, guaranteed to make for a happy new year, or at the very least a happy belly.
在很多國家，1月1日都是一個人辭舊迎新的日子。吃一頓大餐也是新年行好運的一個好辦法。在美國和其他一些西方國家，有這麼一些食物是大家新年常吃的，也就是人們常說的幸運食物了。
Grapes（葡萄）
New Year's revelers in Spain consume twelve grapes at midnight—one grape for each stroke of the clock. This dates back to 1909, when grape growers in the Alicante region of Spain initiated the practice to take care of a grape surplus. The idea stuck, spreading to Portugal as well as former Spanish and Portuguese colonies such as Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico, Ecuador, and Peru. Each grape represents a different month, so if for instance the third grape is a bit sour, March might be a rocky month. For most, the goal is to swallow all the grapes before the last stroke of midnight, but Peruvians insist on taking in a 13th grape for good measure.
西班牙人會在新年的夜晚吃掉12顆葡萄——每一粒葡萄就代表一個時辰。而後，這項傳統演變爲：一粒葡萄代表每年的一個月。所以，如果你吃到的第三粒葡萄有點酸，那麼來年3月可能就不順。不過最盛行的習俗，還是趕在午夜鐘響以前把所有葡萄都吃掉！
Cooked Greens
Cooked greens, including cabbage, collards, kale, and chard, are consumed at New Year's in different countries for a simple reason — their green leaves look like folded money, and are thus symbolic of economic fortune. The Danish eat stewed kale sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, the Germans consume sauerkraut (cabbage) while in the southern United States, collards are the green of choice. It's widely believed that the more greens one eats the larger one's fortune next year.
諸如捲心菜、甘藍菜和厚皮菜這樣的綠色蔬菜也是很多國家的新年食品。人們吃它原因很簡單：它們綠油油的葉子就像是鈔票上的綠色，所以吃掉它們就表示來年財運不斷。在丹麥，人們會吃燉甘藍菜、配糖霜和桂皮；在德國，酸白菜是菜單之一；美國南方，羽衣甘藍也是選擇之一。大部分人都相信，吃掉這些綠色蔬菜，來年就財源滾滾啦！
Legumes
Legumes including beans, peas, and lentils are also symbolic of money. Their small, seedlike appearance resembles coins that swell when cooked so they are consumed with financial rewards in mind. In Italy, it's customary to eat cotechino con lenticchie or sausages and green lentils, just after midnight—a particularly propitious meal because pork has it's own lucky associations. Germans also partner legumes and pork, usually lentil or split pea soup with sausage. In Brazil, the first meal of the New Year is usually lentil soup or lentils and rice, and in Japan, the osechi-ryori, a group of symbolic dishes eaten during the first three days of the new year, includes sweet black beans called kuro-mame.
In the Southern United States, it's traditional to eat black-eyed peas or cowpeas in a dish called hoppin' john. There are even those who believe in eating one pea for every day in the new year. This all traces back to the legend that during the Civil War, the town of Vicksburg, Virginia, ran out of food while under attack. The residents fortunately discovered black-eyed peas and the legume was thereafter considered lucky.
包括豆莢、豌豆和小扁豆在內的豆類也被視爲是錢的象徵。因爲它們小小的豆粒看起來就像是硬幣，煮過以後漲起來、吃下去就像得到錢一樣。在意大利，人們用臘腸來配豆子吃；德國的傳統搭配是酸白菜加豬肉，通常還有扁豆湯；美國南方的傳統是一道叫“希望約翰”的菜，裏面有黑豆。甚至有人相信，在新年裏每天吃一粒豆子都會給來年帶來好運。
Pork
The custom of eating pork on New Year's is based on the idea that pigs symbolize progress. The animal pushes forward, rooting itself in the ground before moving. Roast suckling pig is served for New Year's in Cuba, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, and Austria—Austrians are also known to decorate the table with miniature pigs made of marzipan. Different pork dishes such as pig's feet are enjoyed in Sweden while Germans feast on roast pork and sausages. Pork is also consumed in Italy and the United States, where thanks to its rich fat content, it signifies wealth and prosperity.
新年吃豬的傳統是基於人們認爲這種動物象徵着進步。烤乳豬是古巴、西班牙、葡萄牙、匈牙利和奧地利的傳統新年食品。奧地利人還會把杏仁甜餅做成小豬的樣子來裝飾餐桌。其他的豬肉大餐也在全球各地流行，比如瑞典人吃豬腳；德國人吃豬腳和香腸。在意大利和美國，得益於豬肉豐富的脂肪，人們也把它作爲財富的象徵。
Fish
Fish is a very logical choice for the New Year's table. According to Mark Kurlansky, author of Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World, cod has been a popular feast food since the Middle Ages. He compares it to turkey on Thanksgiving. The reason? Long before refrigeration and modern transportation, cod could be preserved and transported allowing it to reach the Mediterranean and even as far as North Africa and the Caribbean. Kurlansky also believes the Catholic Church's policy against red meat consumption on religious holidays helped make cod, as well as other fish, commonplace at feasts. The Danish eat boiled cod, while in Italy, baccalà, or dried salt cod, is enjoyed from Christmas through New Year's. Herring, another frequently preserved fish, is consumed at midnight in Poland and Germany—Germans also enjoy carp and have been known to place a few fish scales in their wallets for good luck. The Swedish New Year feast is usually a smorgasbord with a variety of fish dishes such as seafood salad. In Japan, herring roe is consumed for fertility, shrimp for long life, and dried sardines for a good harvest (sardines were once used to fertilize rice fields).
魚，是新年餐桌上理性選擇。根據《鱈魚：一種改變世界的魚的自傳》作者馬克·克蘭斯基的說法，鱈魚自中世紀起就是一種廣受歡迎的節日食品。他認爲鱈魚相當於感恩節吃的火雞。什麼原因呢？在現代製冷技術和運輸手段發明以前，鱈魚能夠長時間不壞，並運送到地中海、甚至是南非、加勒比地區。克蘭斯基同時還相信天主教堂反對在宗教節日期間吃紅肉的條例幫助了鱈魚和其他魚類在節慶中的發展。丹麥人吃煮的鱈魚；在意大利，人們在聖誕節和新年吃鹽漬的幹鱈魚；波蘭人和德國人在新年晚上吃另一種常見的魚類，鯡魚；德國人同時還喜歡螃蟹，並且相信在口袋裏裝一些魚鱗會帶來好運。
Cakes, Etc.
Cakes and other baked goods are commonly served from Christmas to New Year's around the world, with a special emphasis placed on round or ring-shaped items. Italy has chiacchiere, which are honey-drenched balls of pasta dough fried and dusted with powdered sugar. Poland, Hungary, and the Netherlands also eat donuts, and Holland has ollie bollen, puffy, donut-like pastries filled with apples, raisins, and currants.
In certain cultures, it's customary to hide a special trinket or coin inside the cake—the recipient will be lucky in the new year. Mexico's rosca de reyes is a ring-shaped cake decorated with candied fruit and baked with one or more surprises inside. In Greece, a special round cake called vasilopita is baked with a coin hidden inside. At midnight or after the New Year's Day meal, the cake is cut, with the first piece going to St. Basil and the rest being distributed to guests in order of age. Sweden and Norway have similar rituals in which they hide a whole almond in rice pudding—whoever gets the nut is guaranteed great fortune in the new year.
Cakes aren't always round. In Scotland, where New Year's is called Hogmanay, there is a tradition called "first footing," in which the first person to enter a home after the new year determines what kind of year the residents will have. The "first footer" often brings symbolic gifts like coal to keep the house warm or baked goods such as shortbread, oat cakes, and a fruit caked called black bun, to make sure the household always has food.
蛋糕和其他烘焙點心在全球各地都是聖誕到新年間的食物，尤其是圓形、或環形的點心。意大利人做chiacchiere。那是一種用蜂蜜浸透的麪糰、炸過再撒上糖霜吃；波蘭、匈牙利和荷蘭人吃甜甜圈。荷蘭人的“甜甜圈”olliebollen質地鬆軟，裏面的餡兒有蘋果、葡萄乾和加侖子。在某些文化裏，還有把硬幣塞進蛋糕裏的傳統，吃到的人來年會有好運氣。
What Not to Eat
In addition to the aforementioned lucky foods, there are also a few to avoid. Lobster, for instance, is a bad idea because they move backwards and could therefore lead to setbacks. Chicken is also discouraged because the bird scratches backwards, which could cause regret or dwelling on the past. Another theory warns against eating any winged fowl because good luck could fly away.
Now that you know what to eat, there's one more superstition—that is, guideline—to keep in mind. In Germany, it's customary to leave a little bit of each food on your plate past midnight to guarantee a stocked pantry in the New Year. Likewise in the Philippines, it's important to have food on the table at midnight. The conclusion? Eat as much lucky food as you can, just don't get too greedy—or the first place you'll be going in the new year is the gym.
除了這些幸運食物之外，相對的，也有一些最好在新年避開的食物。比如龍蝦，因爲它總是倒着爬，在新年吃它象徵倒退，這樣可不好。還有傳統警告我們要避開所有帶翅膀的家禽，因爲它們暗示着幸運會飛走。
