Lentils are traditionally eaten in Italy for good fortune at New Year’s Eve celebrations because their shape resembles coins.
The custom links lentils with prosperity: as they swell while cooking, they can also symbolize growing wealth during the coming year. Italian New Year meals often serve lentils with cotechino, a cooked pork sausage, or with zampone, a stuffed pig’s trotter. Pork itself is associated with abundance and the idea of moving forward rather than backward.
The exact menu differs by region and household, so lentils are not a required national dish. Some families eat them just after midnight, while others serve them as part of the main meal on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day. The tradition is sometimes confused with Spain’s twelve grapes, but the foods carry different symbolic meanings: grapes mark the twelve months, while lentils evoke coins and prosperity.