First meal of the new year

[waysider]

My Grandmother always said you should have pork for the first meal because the pig moves forward in its quest for food.

Conversely, she said, you should never have chicken because it scratches backwards in search of food.

Of course, it's just a way of applying some sort of symbolism to the onward march of time, but I still like to have pork and 'kraut to start the new year. Then again, I like pork and 'kraut ANY time of year.

Anybody have a "first meal" tradition?

[George Aar]

A large helping of "hair of the dog"...

[ChasUFarley]

Hubby's family (Greek) has a cheese and egg pita with a chicken and rice lemon soup - pita & ovolemno soupa.

The pita has a coin in it - usually a quarter or silver dollar - and whoever gets the coin has good luck all year.

[waysider]

Hubby's family (Greek) has a cheese and egg pita with a chicken and rice lemon soup - pita & ovolemno soupa.

The pita has a coin in it - usually a quarter or silver dollar - and whoever gets the coin has good luck all year.

Unless, of course, they try to swallow it. :unsure:

[Outfield]

turnips for money, black eyed peas for luck and whatever else....those are all I recall for our family traditions.

[George Aar]

The best New's Year meal I ever had was in Japan.

There the tradition is to buy a really expensive gift box of sushi and sashimi and the like. It's a beautiful lacquered box usually with several tray/shelves thingies inside. All the food is beautifully prepared and wrapped and placed in the box.

Most of the stuff in there I didn't recognize, but I was assured that it was all very "takai" (expensive).

The very first meal you have is at midnight on New's Year's Eve. You drink sake poured with three tips of the kettle into your saucer. Then you sit down to a small meal of mochi (rice that's been pounded into a rubbery, glue-like mass that you have to eat with "hashi" - chopsticks). Then we all went down to the neighborhood shrine and paid the priest there for a little rolled up fortune. Eh, it was harmless enough...

http://www.bento.com/fexp-osechi.html

Edited December 31, 2007 by George Aar

[coolchef]

monkey brain soup for us!

my great grandmas reciepe

been in the family for years and i am the only one that knows how to make it