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Chapter 52 Custom Custom Culture (5)
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.
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 as holidays helped, 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).
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 olliebollen, 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.
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 cake called Black Bun, to make sure the household always has food.
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.
Vocabulary
Category ["k? tiɡ? ri] n. category, classification

auspicious [? : "spi??s] adj. auspicious, auspicious, lucky

menu ["menju:, m?"nju:] n. menu
assortment [? "s?: tm? nt] n. classification, mixture
recipe ["resipi] n. recipe; [medical] prescription, secret
initiate [i"ni? ieit] vt. to start, to initiate, to initiate;
n. start, new entrant

collard ["k? l? d] n. [plant] kale
Stewed [stju: d] adj. Anxious, drunk, stewed;
v. Make...anxiety

association [? "s? usi" ei? ? n] n.

prosperity [pr? s"periti] n. prosperity, success

biography [bai"?ɡr? fi] n. biography, archives, personal profile

fertility [f? "tiliti] n. Fertility, abundance, productivity

Trinket ["tri? kit] n. small decorations;

vi. Conspiracy
aforementioned[? "f?: "men? ? nd] adj. above, previously mentioned

Dwell [dwel] vi. live, exist in, think about something

Practice
Which foods are popular in New Year?

Translation
In many countries, January 1 is a day to say goodbye to the old and welcome the new.Eating a big meal is also a good way to bring good luck in the new year.There are a variety of foods that are believed to improve the odds of being lucky, making us an extremely lucky person next year.Traditions vary from culture to culture, but there are striking similarities.The six auspicious foods recognized around the world are grapes, green vegetables, fish, pork, beans and cakes.Whether you're looking to create a full menu of lucky foods, or just to complement your meals, we've got a variety of recipes sure to get you a happy new year.Or, at least satisfy your appetite.

grape
Spaniards will eat 12 grapes on New Year's Eve - each grape represents an hour.Then, the tradition evolved: a grape represents a month of the year.So, if your third grape is a little sour, March might not be a good month.But the most popular custom is to eat all the grapes before the clock strikes midnight!
green vegetables
Green vegetables such as cabbage, kale and pachyrhizus are also New Year's food in many countries.The reason people eat it is simple: their green leaves are like the green on banknotes, so eating them will bring good fortune for the coming year.In Denmark, braised kale is served with icing sugar and cinnamon; in Germany, sauerkraut is on the menu; and in the American South, kale is also an option.Most people believe that eating these green vegetables will bring you a lot of money in the coming year!

Beans
Legumes including pods, peas and lentils are also considered symbols of money.Because their small beans look like coins, they rise up after cooking, and eating them is like getting money.In Italy, salami is served with beans; in Germany, sauerkraut is traditionally served with pork, often with lentil soup; in Brazil, the first meal of the new year is often lentil soup or lentils and rice; A number of emblematic dishes are eaten for three days, which include sweet black beans known as kuro-mame.

Tradition in the American South is a dish called "Hope John" with black beans.It is even believed that eating one bean a day during the new year will bring good luck for the coming year.The origin of all these traditions can be traced back to the Civil War.Vicksburg, Virginia, ran out of food due to the war. Fortunately, the local residents discovered black beans and survived.Since then, black beans have become a symbol of luck.

pork
The New Year's tradition of eating pork is based on the belief that the animal symbolizes progress.Roast suckling pig is a traditional New Year's food in Cuba, Spain, Portugal, Hungary and Austria.The Austrians also make marzipan into the shape of a pig to decorate the table.Other pork feasts are also popular around the world, such as pig's feet in Sweden; pig's feet and sausages in Germany.In Italy and the United States, pork is also used as a symbol of wealth, thanks to its rich fat.

fish

Fish is a rational choice on the New Year's dinner table.According to Mark Kransky, author of "Cod: The Autobiography of a Fish That Changed the World," cod has been a popular holiday food since the Middle Ages.He thinks cod is the Thanksgiving equivalent of turkey.What is the reason?Before the invention of modern refrigeration technology and means of transportation, cod could last for a long time and be transported to the Mediterranean, even South Africa and the Caribbean.Kransky also believes that the Catholic Church's ban on eating red meat during religious holidays helped the growth of cod and other fish in the festivities.The Danes eat boiled cod; in Italy, dried salted cod is eaten at Christmas and New Years; Poles and Germans eat another common fish, herring, on New Year's Eve; the Germans also like crab, and It is believed that having some fish scales in your pocket will bring you good luck.

cakes and other food

Cakes and other baked treats are popular around the world from Christmas to New Years, especially if they are round or ring-shaped.Italians make chiacchiere, which is honey-soaked dough fried and eaten with icing sugar; Polish, Hungarian and Dutch eat donuts.The Dutch "doughnut" olliebollen is soft and filled with apples, raisins and currants.In some cultures, there is also a tradition of stuffing coins into cakes for good luck in the coming year.

Cakes aren't always round either.In Scotland, New Year's Eve is called "Scotland's Eve". There is a tradition called "the first person in the door". chance.Those who are "first in the door" often bring symbolic gifts, such as coal, which means keeping the home warm, or some baked goods, such as shortbread, oatmeal cake or a black bun. Fruit pastries to make sure there is always food for the families you visit.

New Year's Taboo Food
In addition to these lucky foods, there are also some foods that are best avoided in the new year.For example, lobster, because it always crawls backwards, eating it in the New Year symbolizes going backwards, which is not good.There is also tradition that warns us to steer clear of all winged fowl, as they imply that luck will fly away.

Exercise
What foods are popular during the New Year?

Grapes, cooked greens, legumes, pork, fish and cakes, Etc.

08 Sleepyhead Day
(End of this chapter)