Sharing New Year's culinary traditions

by Stefania Butler (Subscribe to Stefania Butler's posts)
Posted Dec 27th 2005 7:02PM
Filed under: Dinner, West Coast, Food Quest

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What do you cook for New Year's Eve? Is there a special food that you prepare to ring in the New Year? Do you eat black-eyed peas? Or ozoni? In my crazy, mixed-up family we always have two special dishes: cotechino con lenticchie e zampone (sausage with lentils and pig's foot) to honor my Italian heritage, and duk mandoo kook (rice cake and dumpling soup) as a nod to my Korean heritage. (Note: the recipe for the soup is similar to my mom's but not exactly the same. Just had to clear that up lest I have the wrath of a Korean-American mother upon me.)

The cotechino and lentils are not difficult to make. The lentils are cooked and the sausage and pig's foot are sliced and served atop or along side. Lentils (like beans) signify wealth and good fortune. This is perhaps why beans are such a popular New Year's dish.

In my family, we eat the duk mandoo kook at midnight after having a huge dinner and then either watching or setting-off fireworks. My mom, sisters and I spend New Year's Eve day making the mandoo (or dumplings) that will be cooked in the broth which my mom makes from a combination of beef, pork, and chicken. I love that my New Year's celebration harmoniously integrates two very divergent culinary traditions. It makes for a fun party! How about you? What special dishes do you always serve or eat on New Year's?

Tags: beans, cotechino, coteghino, duk, food, italian, korean, lentils, mandoo, new years, NewYears, rice cake, RiceCake, zampone

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12-27-2005 @ 8:15PM

Dan Tannenbaum said...

One of the traditions I carry with me from my childhood in Brooklyn: Crown Roast Pork on New years Day! I have always loved the smell of the roast as it permeates the house! To this day, I layer a big roasting pan with saurkraut, place the roast in the bed, and surround the outside of the roast with more sauerkraut. Then, the ultimate: I stuff the inside of the roast with sauerkraut! (Getting the drift?) I also put all the juice of the kraut in the pan, as it help to cook the roast. I run the oven at about 400 F, and keep it covered. After about 5 hours, it is done to perfection! Add applesauce (homemade is better, not as sweet) and you have a feast!

12-28-2005 @ 12:41AM

Huffy said...

The New Year doesn't truly begin until we serve the Hoppin' John, a nod to my mama's Southern heritage. Although I'm a California native, I nonetheless always find a way to integrate this must-have dish in our New Year's festivities. As a youngster, I loved to help sort through the black-eyed peas while my mama cut onions; to this day, the ritual brings me comfort and many happy memories.

Lastly, to celebrate my father's life (a New Year's Day baby who died in 2000), I make his favorite fresh coconut cake. As children, we would trot it out at the last stroke of midnight on January 1st, singing "Happy Birthday" as the strains of "Auld Lang Syne" faded away.

Huffy

12-29-2005 @ 2:36PM

Nicole said...

My family digs out the grill from the snow (recent years have seen far less snow) for New Year's Eve. Living in an apartment does not lend itself to this.

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