Sauerkraut on New Year's Day | Traditions Explained | wildbrine (2024)

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Sauerkraut on New Year's Day | Traditions Explained | wildbrine? ›

Germans have been eating pork and sauerkraut on New Year's for generations because they believe it brings good luck (viel glück in German). As these kraut lovers immigrated to the Midwest, they brought their traditions with them, including this one.

It's hard to pin point exactly, but the reasoning is that eating this dish on January 1 each year will bring you wealth and luck all year long. According to German Food Guide, it is said that the tradition comes from people wishing each other as much wealth as the number of shreds of cabbage in the kraut.

Other theories around this meal include that the long shreds of sauerkraut symbolize a long life and the fact that cabbage is green, like money, symbolizes wealth.

Finally, pork (and cabbage) eaten on New Year's is a German and Eastern European tradition brought to America by early settlers.

According to German Food Guide, the tradition of eating pork and sauerkraut on New Year's Day goes a little something like this: Eating Sauerkraut on New Year's Eve is a long-standing tradition in Germany. It is believed that eating Sauerkraut will bring blessings and wealth for the new year.

Avoid Winged Fowl

If you don't want your luck to fly away in the new year, it's best to avoid any animal that has wings and scratches in the dirt, like turkey or chicken. These birds scratch backward, which can imply dwelling in the past or—even worse—the need to scrape by for your living.

Eating 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight comes from Spain. While most participants expected it to help them find love in the new year, the 12 grapes are supposed to bring you luck.

If there was any corn left they made cornbread. So, theses three items have come to represent hope and prosperity for the New Year. The peas represent coins, the greens - paper money and the cornbread, gold.

White-Colored Foods are a no no on New Year's Day, foods that are all white in color, such as rice, bread, eggs, and tofu. According to ancient Chinese beliefs, white symbolizes death– so it is considered unlucky to eat white colored-food on New Year's Day.

What are you not supposed to eat on New Year's Day? ›

Lobster, cows, and chicken are all considered unlucky animals to eat on New Year's because of how they move. Read on for more foods superstitious people try to avoid on the holiday.

Don't Clean the House on New Year's Day - You will wash away any good luck coming your way.

Pork for progress! Pigs root around with their snouts moving in a forward motion, which is why many cultures around the world eat pork on New Year's Day to symbolize progress for the coming year.

Black-Eyed Peas

Traditionally paired with collard greens and cornbread, black-eyed peas are a staple New Year's good luck food. The peas symbolize coins, and practices of consuming these legumes around celebrations date back to Ancient Egypt.

Eating pork on the New Year is supposed to inspire progress throughout the year to come, both because of pig's girthy size (mmm, prosperity) and the fact that they root forward (rather than backward like chickens). On New Year's, pork is often paired with cabbage in the form of sauerkraut, but we say, anything goes.

Pork is considered a sign of prosperity in some cultures because pigs root forward. This is probably the reason many southern New Year's Day dishes contain pork or ham.

Greens, Black-Eyed Peas, Cornbread, and Ham | Photo by Meredith. You may not be superstitious, but why tempt fate? Dig into these traditional lucky foods on New Year's Day to attract abundance and prosperity in the year ahead.

According to Southern lore, you will have good luck for the entire year if you have the traditional New Year's Day supper. In the South, that means a meal of collard greens, hoppin' John, black-eyed peas, cornbread, and pot likker soup.

Eating 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight comes from Spain. While most participants expected it to help them find love in the new year, the 12 grapes are supposed to bring you luck.