Mmm, money. Nom, nom, nom. Mmm, prosperity. Nom, nom, nom. Mmm, more money! Nom, nom, nom!
What do you eat for New Year's? Does it hold a sentimental significance for you? Do you know the cultural reasons why you eat it?
Many Americans are used to eating ham at New Years. Many also eat cooked greens and/or beans. Why? Eating pork at New Year's is supposed to represent wealth and prosperity. If you're familiar with the peppermint Christmas pig, it comes from the same idea. In the days before refrigeration, you slaughtered and preserved pigs when the weather got cold. Of course, in the South, this wouldn't be 'til deep in the late fall/early winter.
And speaking of Southern New Years food traditions, why the greens and beans? Specifically, collard greens or turnip greens and black eyed peas? Both are supposed to represent money; the greens being bills and the beans being coins. (Alternate descriptions of the traditions indicate the black eyed peas represent luck rather than coins - maybe because two foods representing money seems redundant.)
But why these foods specifically? Why not green cabbage? Why not some other bean? For that matter, if we're going for money, why not some other food that looks more like gold coins? (The Chinese eat citrus slices and round, flat, golden cakes for their new year's celebrations.)
As with many Southern tales and traditions, the turnip greens and black eyed peas goes back to the Civil War. When Sherman went on his March to the Sea, burning through Georgia from Chattanooga to Savannah, he not only burned buildings - he also burned crops. For some reason, he did not burn the black eyed peas or turnips; apparently, these crops were considered to only be fit for animal fodder (specifically, for pigs). So what was left for Georgians in the path of destruction to eat? Turnip greens and black eyed peas. The burning ended in December of 1864 (Sherman presented the city of Savannah to President Lincoln as a Christmas gift).
Perhaps the people of Georgia noticed - or hoped, or prayed - that things changed after they ate these simple foods. Maybe after that awful year of war and fire, left with only the most meager food for the holidays, they thought themselves lucky to have even that. (Or, like Scarlet, they hated it, but ate it anyway because it was better than nothing.)
I went to the grocery store yesterday and bought black eyed peas for our New Year's celebration. We do hoppin' John (black eyed peas with rice), cooked with the last of Christmas ham. This year we're adding sauteed bok choy (Jason doesn't like southern-style greens cooked with salt pork).
I posted on my Facebook page that after the crummy year we've all had that we all need to do our part and eat our good luck foods. A (Southern) friend joked that maybe the greens and beans were making things worse, so she was going to avoid them this year and see if that helped. I recommended she try the Chinese New Year's foods - long noodles for long life, and citrus slices for money. Sounds like she might do it.
So what's on your New Year's menu? Eat it with crossed fingers. Make a wish. Let's greet 2021 with some positive vibes.
