Lucky foods for the new year

CEBU, Philippines – The Philippines - and perhaps the entire Southeast Asian region - is very rich in superstitions traditions. One of the focal point of folk beliefs is about the New Year. The occasion is observed with ear-busting noise, supposedly to ward off bad spirits.

There's also the practice of wearing polka-dotted outfits, to attract wealth. The dining table on New Year's Eve should have rice grains, salt, water and cooking oil on display in open containers like small bowls or saucers. These basic food items are said to ensure food security in the coming year.

Food is the center of many good-luck beliefs among the majority of Filipinos. The website www.rd.com notes that many of the foods people traditionally eat for luck on New Year's Eve are believed to bring a year of prosperity and good health. The observation is very much reflective of Filipinos.

The website lists several food items that are very common in New Year's Eve dinners.

There are still other dishes more that are believed to usher in good luck when present at the New Year's Eve dinner, each one backed by its own reason for being a good-luck drawer.

Pork. Pigs are a lucky symbol because they root forward, and are rotund. The most popular pork dish around is the lechon, which is a centerpiece in important celebrations. The lechon has even been proclaimed by an international culinary expert as "the best pig in the world."

Greens. Because greens resemble money, these are a necessary item in the New Year's Eve fare.

Noodles. In folk belief, noodles are symbols of long life, and grains like rice, quinoa, and barley stand for abundance. Slurping the noodles whole is said to bring even more luck.

Beans. Like greens, beans resemble money; more specifically, they symbolize coins. Whether black beans, lentils, or black-eyes peas, healthy fiber-filled beans help soak up that champagne.

Fish. Fish are believed to be lucky because their scales resemble coins, and they swim in schools which invoke the idea of abundance.

Cake. Ring-shaped cakes - sometimes with trinkets baked inside - are also a symbol of coming full circle. Cakes have become quite a favorite item to cap a Filipino feast.

Fruit. Filipinos have the habit of placing13 different kinds of fruits at the dining table on New Year's Eve. Every fruit is round in shape, a symbol of coming full circle. Native fruits like atis, chicos, pomegranates, lanzones, rambotan, pomelo, melon, santol and guavas are common to see alongside oranges, grapes, pears, peaches, apples and others.