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From lucky lentils to tempting tamales,<br />
people from around the world<br />
welcome the new year with a mixture<br />
of tradition and superstition. Danes<br />
ring in the special day with boiled<br />
cod and lemon caper sauce, and<br />
some Mexican families gather for<br />
traditional tamales. In Greece, the<br />
savory-sweet vasilopita takes center<br />
stage, and the person who finds<br />
the coin or trinket hidden in the cake<br />
receives good luck.<br />
Jennifer Dunagan of Gotha<br />
and her family celebrate by eating 12<br />
grapes at the stroke of midnight — a<br />
popular Latin tradition that symbolizes<br />
good luck for each month in the new<br />
year. In a nod to the Pennsylvania<br />
Dutch, Megan Gardner of Orlando<br />
feasts on pork and sauerkraut.<br />
“For Russians, the biggest holiday of<br />
the year starts around 9-10 p.m. and<br />
lasts well into the new year,” said local<br />
resident Evgenia Volkonitskaya,<br />
originally from Krasnoyarsk, Siberia.<br />
“People prepare for days and then<br />
eat all of the food for days,” she said.<br />
The evening starts off with canapes<br />
with red caviar, pickled vegetables,<br />
cold cuts and salads. Main dishes<br />
include roast pig or duck.<br />
“My parents also normally make<br />
a large savory pie, called a pirog,<br />
which looks like a slab pie filled with<br />
www.SouthwestOrlandoBulletin.com x December 15, 2016 - January 4, 2017 x 5<br />
FOODIE FOR THOUGHT<br />
Fantastic Flavors From Around the Globe<br />
Food Traditions that Ring in the New Year!<br />
by Kirsten Harrington<br />
Many<br />
Americans<br />
believe eating<br />
black-eyed<br />
peas on New<br />
Year’s Day<br />
brings good<br />
luck.<br />
something savory like fish and onions,”<br />
Evgenia said.<br />
Xuan Tian of Windermere recalls<br />
celebrating New Year’s Eve in<br />
her native China with firecrackers<br />
and a huge family dinner with meat,<br />
dumplings and vegetables.<br />
“Some families put a coin or peanut<br />
in the stuffing of the dumpling, and it is<br />
believed the people who get to eat that<br />
will be lucky in the new year.”<br />
Xuan continues the tradition now,<br />
gathering friends to make dumplings<br />
and watching the New Year’s Gala on<br />
Chinese television.<br />
Probably the best-known American<br />
tradition involves black-eyed peas.<br />
Some say they bring luck because<br />
they look like coins. Others believe the<br />
tradition dates back to the Civil War<br />
when all food crops were destroyed,<br />
except fields of black-eyed peas,<br />
which sustained the soldiers.<br />
Americans aren’t the only ones who<br />
embrace lucky legumes. In Brazil,<br />
lentils cooked with sausage are a<br />
popular New Year’s dish.<br />
“Every grain symbolizes how much<br />
money you will make next year,”<br />
explained Priscila Portugal of<br />
Brazil em Casa Emporio, a Brazilian<br />
grocery store and café in Ocoee.<br />
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6<br />
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