The Cantonese New Year Food Items And Their Meanings

By John Chan

Do you want to find out the menu that is arranged for the feasting during the New Year season's celebrations? Come let us get information on it.

The Chinese people are very concerned about their food. This seriousness grows manifolds when it comes to New Year's celebrations because food is an integral part of the entire festive season. Given that the Chinese attach so much importance to food the fact that food occupies a central place in New Year celebrations comes as no big surprise.

The food offered during the Chinese New Year season is no ordinary food. Rather it is considered to be lucky food which is served for the duration of the first two weeks of the New Year. The serving of the food is also known as the spring festival because that is around when the Chinese New Year falls according to the lunar calendar.

The cuisine set for the New Year celebrations comprises no ordinary food and has some sort of symbolical meaning taggedto it as Chinese people believe in symbolism. A full chicken that is eaten as a must during New Years feasts, represents togetherness of family. All items eaten during this time have some symbolism or the other and are considered to be lucky food.

There is no doubt that the New Year's season's feasting involves the serving of noodles which is a compulsory tradition in China. It is the symbol that promises a long life. The Chinese believe that noodles that are cut bring bad luck so they generally offer uncut noodles.

Other exciting and symbolic items on the Chinese New Year menu are clams and spring rolls. These treats are meant to tantalize your taste buds while they stand as a symbol of wealth. The clams get this symbolism from its bouillon like shape whereas the spring rolls carry resemblance with bars of gold.

Another approach to choose the right kind of food is to concentrate on the phonetics the word. Take the word 'lettuce', when said in the Chinese language it sounds like the fortune is increasing. The Chinese people use lettuce to wrap fortune food items to be served on the occasion of the New Year.

Some fruits are also designated as fortunate food served during the New Year spring season and its available in abundance at this time of the year. The most important ones are oranges and tangerines. When they are pronounced in Chinese they have the sound of wealth and luck and hence that explains why they are selected. Another fruit type that is selected is the grapefruit as it signifies abundance and is the classic fruit symbol of the New Year.

Fish is amongst one of the primary items on the New Year menu just because it sounds like wish and is believed to represent abundance. The evening meal on New Year's Eve will always end with fish as per tradition. The fish is served as a whole so as to symbolize togetherness.

Sweets and steamed cakes like sticky rice cakes are also served during the New Year time and message that it shares is that people can seek for good things to come with the advancement of a New Year. - 30294

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