Lentils are traditionally eaten for luck at New Year’s Eve in Italy.
Italian New Year meals commonly pair lentils with cotechino, a cooked pork sausage, or with zampone, a stuffed pig’s trotter. The lentils’ small, round shape is traditionally associated with coins, so eating them is believed to symbolize prosperity in the coming year.
The custom is especially linked with the dinner known as cenone di Capodanno, the New Year’s Eve feast. Regional menus differ, but lentils remain a widely recognized good-luck food across Italy.
The sausage is not the answer to the question about the lucky food itself: cotechino and zampone are accompanying dishes. Nor does every Italian household follow exactly the same menu; the tradition is cultural and regional rather than a compulsory national ritual.