Monique of Mama Lisa’s World in France sent me this photo of a dish many French people eat every year in honor of the New Year. It’s sausages and lentils – "saucisse et lentilles". The lentils are symbolic of money and prosperity because they’re round like coins. The pork in the soup is also symbolic of prosperity (traditionally of having food on the table all year long).
You can learn more about Symbolic Foods Eaten Around the World for the New Year on a previous blog post.
Would love to hear about the foods you eat for the New Year where you live in the comments below!
Note: Monique later sent me the Recipe for the French New Year Sausage and Lentil Dish!
This article was posted on Saturday, January 9th, 2010 at 11:16 pm and is filed under Countries & Cultures, Customs and Traditions, Food Memories, France, Holidays Around the World, Lentil Soup, New Years, Recipes of the World, Soup. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
5 Responses to “Sausages and Lentils are Eaten in France for the New Year”
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January 10th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
Paolo Marco Ripamonti wrote:
Not only there. Also in Italy lentils have the same meaning, and they share it with grapes. It’s traditional to eat some grape (usually white ones) at midnight and eat lentils with zampone either in the first hours of new year’s day or at lunchtime.
January 13th, 2010 at 11:50 am
My father said my grandmother, whose parents were from Italy, would have Lentils for the New Years in the old days.
This seems to be a custom in Hungary too, according to Sue Doeden: “In Hungary, coin-shaped lentils are consumed on New Year’s Day to ensure wealth and prosperity throughout the year.”
February 9th, 2010 at 8:41 pm
[…] Palomares had previously sent me a photo of the lentils they traditionally eat in France for the New Year. She recently sent me the recipe. Here’s what she wrote: Sonia explained me how she cooks […]
January 1st, 2014 at 2:18 pm
I am French and I never have eaten that for New year !!!?
January 1st, 2014 at 2:34 pm
Perhaps it’s regional. My friend in Southern France eats this with her friends every New Year.