Lentils are served on New Year’s Eve around midnight. Why? Well, with their coinlike shape, they are supposed to represent luck and prosperity.

The week following Christmas was one to enjoy when I was a kid living in Providence. So many things to do with our new treasures that we received … sleds, balls, boxing gloves, a basketball, a football, Monopoly, Parcheesi, Sorry, toy cars and trucks, a bike (Oh, when would the snow melt?), ice skates (When will the Duck Pond freeze?) and roller skates (Go away ice). I never thought of New Year’s Eve until New Year’s Eve, when I tried to stay awake long enough to hear something but never did.

I vaguely remember a few traditions, one of which was lentils. Lentils were not a favorite dish of mine, so the meal at New Year’s Eve did not make much of an impression, even though they included beneficial nutrients like fiber, protein, minerals and vitamins, are low in calories and contain virtually no fat. Who knew at 10?

Not until later in life did I begin to savor those dishes that I avoided in my youth … lentils, polenta, undercooked eggs (well, not yet) and castor oil (never, of course). I mention castor oil because though not a food, Grandma seemed to consider it one, feeding it to us for any ailment when we complained … headache, sore throat, cramps and diarrhea. She even used it when we were well. Italians seemed to think that a good purge was necessary every once in a while. We learned not to complain.

Back to the lentils.

Lentils are served on New Year’s Eve around midnight. Why? Well, with their coinlike shape, they are supposed to represent luck and prosperity. Especially since there are so many “little coins” in a dish. The dish is often served with cotechino, a spicy pork sausage that signified the fat or bounty of the land. America was now their land, one they appreciated, so my guess is they continued this tradition for the good times and their abundances. Maybe this was where superstition crept in.

I never heard this, but I read that Italians ate the pork to conjure the future because pigs root forward, whereas other animals, such as chickens or cows, move backward or stand still. Lord knows, they had their fill of chicken.

I also think of the wonderful scene from the 1988 Italian film "Cinema Paradiso,” one of the greatest movies ever made. The scene depicts what happens at midnight as pots and pans get flung out of windows by New Year's revelers. The act symbolizes casting away the old in favor of the new, letting go of past troubles for a more hopeful time. Out-with-the-old, make-room-for-the-new. I do remember grandma using a hammer to smash a plate covered with a mopine (dish towel) on New Year’s Eve, but never thought of why.

Whichever way you move into the New Year … forward, backward, sideways or stumbling, make sure you keep your eyes and your hopes looking forward.

And don’t forget your lentils.

Happy 2018!

— Ed Iannuccilli, a retired physician and now a writer, can be reached at edwritesri@gmail.com.