Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Remember when I wrote about  hedging our bets with New Year's Eve Traditions from Around the World . These are two traditions that I really love: eating whole fish and eating leafy greens! These dishes were from our Capodanno  v. 2015 dinner at La Balena . Eating a whole fish is considered good luck. It's important to eat that the first be served with the head and tail intact to ensure a good year - from start to finish. Chef Brad served a whole roasted sea bream with mussels and saffron-whipped lardo butter garnished with watermelon radishes. From the American south and throughout Europe comes the tradition of people eating leafy greens on New Year's. It's because their appearance and color resemble paper currency. Belief has it that the more you eat, the more prosperous you will be. Chef Brad's Vignai salad was arugula, shaved fennel, blood orange, chopped almonds, and a Meyer lemon-honey vinaigrette.

Besides loving marzipan, marzipanschweine  (marzipan pigs) are good luck. Just ask the Germans. The pig has long represented good luck and well-being. Have you ever watch a pig root? They put their snouts to the ground and only move forward. Germans eat pork during their New Year's Eve dinner. But  marzipanschweine  (marzipan pigs) work as well to ensure good luck in the coming year. We went that route, putting a marzipan pig on top of our croquembouche . That recipe will post soon. If you want to give homemade marzipan a try, click here .

Remember when I wrote about  hedging our bets with New Year's Eve Traditions from Around the World . These are three traditions that involve food - but not eating them. Hanging Onions Like the Greeks In Greece, they hang an onion on the front door on New Year's Eve. Many layered onions, with their ability to sprout new life even after they are removed from the ground, symbolize growth and progress. On New Year's morning, Greek mothers rouse their children by hitting them in the head with the onion. I didn't do that , but I was tempted. Banging Bread Like the Irish   In Ireland, New Year's Eve is called Eve Oiche na Coda Moire  or 'Night of the Big Portion.' The Irish bang bread against the walls and doors of the house to chase out the bad luck and invite the good into the house. Tossing Water like the Cubans    In Cuba, they toss buckets of water out the door to signify renewal. You get bonus points if some one who has ...