"New year, old food: Thai, Greek, Yankee or Swiss, every culture has
its traditions for special food on the holiday," by Stacy Milbouer, The
Boston Globe. (1997 -- New Hampshire Weekly edition)
Forget that resolution to lose weight. For Granite Staters
of various ethnic backgrounds, good luck on New Year's Day often means
special foods.
Andre Meyer, a native of Switzerland and owner of the Greenhouse Cafe
in Amherst, said veal is a must for New Year's dining. His ethnic
tradition includes veal zurichoise, served with a white wine cream
sauce, garlic, shallots and mushrooms, and, on the side, rosti
potatoes, a hash brown-like creation.
. . .
At Liamos Market, 295 Lake St., Nashua, owners Olga and Christopher
Katsoupis are busy preparing a variety of Greek specialities for New
Year's. Most important is the traditional Greek sweet bread in which a
silver coin is baked. All guests get a slice of the bread - and whoever
gets the silver coin will have good luck for the year. Other Greek New
Year traditions include suckling pig, braised pork with leeks, lamb
roast and a special meat pie with feta, philo, lamb and leeks.
At Italian tables, it's traditional to serve lentils, oranges and
olives on New Year's Day: lentils for prosperity because they look like
coins, oranges for love and olives for good fortune.
At Ya Mamma's restaurant in Nashua, Michael Ferrazzani has started his
own Italian New Year's Eve tradition based on traditional Florentine
fare, including lobster a la Michael, which includes lobster sauteed in
olive oil with portabello mushrooms and roasted red peppers, flamed
with brandy and served with red pepper butter; and veal elaganza -
breaded veal medallions, broccoli florets, portabello mushrooms and
lobster meat baked with asiago cheese. When Ferrazini was growing up,
his mother baked manicotti, lasagna, bracciole and other traditional
foods.
In Thailand, the New Year is celebrated both on April 13 and Dec. 31,
said Corapin Sueksagan, owner of the Giant of Siam restaurant in
Nashua, and on both days it's a big occasion. In Bangkok free shows and
movies in the street honor the royal family. New Year's is also the day
to pay respect to elders by pouring fragrant water into their hands.
Traditional New Year's foods include curry dishes and sticky rice
wrapped in banana leaves.
. . . . Traditional Yankee fare at the Birchwood Inn in Temple, built
in 1775, features lobster bisque, filet mignon and cranberry crunch pie
for dessert, according to owners Judy and Bill Wolfe. In their tiny
dining room, the Yankee atmosphere is enhanced by the 1825 fresco
painted by the famous itinerant artist Rufus Porter. . . . .
The traditional New Year's Day food in India? Just desserts, according
to Naren Pafel, owner of East West Foods, an Indian grocery store in
Nashua. Two of these special holiday treats are sold at the store:
almond berfai, a cookie; and rasgulle, a golf ball-shaped confection
made of flour and milk.
. . .
As befits a culture that celebrates the virtues of tradition and
simplicity, tomorrow Hironori Koga, owner of Sakura Japanese restaurant
in Portsmouth, will celebrate Bo Nen Kai - a day to forget all the bad
things that have happened in the past year and to look forward to the
future - with sushi.
(I have to say, though, that I'm taken with the relative ubiquity of
lobster in these new year's traditions of diverse ethnicities! I smell
the salt of the sea as more a part of their environments than of mine.)
