Lentils are traditionally eaten in Italy on New Year’s Eve because their shape suggests coins and prosperity.
Italian New Year meals commonly pair lentils with cotechino, a seasoned pork sausage, or with zampone, a stuffed pig’s trotter. Lentils are associated with money because their small, round, flattened appearance resembles coins. Eating them at the turn of the year expresses a wish for financial abundance in the months ahead.
Cotechino and zampone also carry symbolic meaning. Pork is associated with abundance and progress because a pig roots forward rather than backward. Regional menus vary, and many families serve the dish after midnight or as part of the New Year’s Day meal.
The custom is a food tradition, not a claim that lentils guarantee wealth. Italian celebrations also include fireworks, sparkling wine, and local rituals. The dish is sometimes confused with Spain’s midnight grapes, but grapes are the better-known twelve-count custom in Spain.