These dishes are ordinary, yet suffused with benevolent meaning when eaten at the right time and in the right frame of mind
The Chinese words for “fish” and “plenty” are homonyms; a whole fish, eaten on the eve of the lunar new year—which this year fell on February 1st—represents a wish for abundance to come. It can be braised, deep-fried or roasted in a pan, but if you live on a coast, or have access to first-rate fish, steaming is the way to go. These new-year meals are suffused with symbolism. Enough fish should be cooked to ensure leftovers, which signify hopes for a surplus in the year ahead.
Such customs are not unique to the Sinitic world. On the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashanah, Jews bake their, a traditional enriched bread, in a round shape to signify the cycle of life and creation. The bread, and often apples too, are smeared with honey, symbolising the wish for a sweet year.
Whether anyone actually believes in a causal relationship between eating these foods and receiving the promised benefits is unclear. Mainly, these culinary traditions continue for the same reason that other traditions do: people have fond memories of observing them with their parents, and want to pass them down to their own offspring.
Diverse as these dishes are, they all imply an optimistic and democratic view of good fortune. Fish and noodles, bread and apples, beans and greens appear regularly on Chinese, Jewish and southern tables. They are neither costly nor exotic, suggesting that luck is not something bought expensively or sought with difficulty. Rather these foods are ordinary, yet suffused with benevolent meaning when eaten at the right time and in the right frame of mind.
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