After the feast of the Immaculate, on Christmas Eve, Nata and Santo Stefano is the turn of the night of New Year’s Eve (December 31) and New Year’s Eve. If for Christmas there are certain characteristic dishes that vary from region to region, it is instead a tradition recognized throughout Italy to eat lentils on December 31 or New Year’s Day. But how was this custom born and what symbolize the lentils?

First of all, it is important to know some of the characteristics of the lentil, from the scientific name Lens culinaris: it is a herbaceous plant with an annual cycle that is part of the family of Leguminosae, as well as the broad beans, peas or chickpeas. These legumes originate from the Middle East: in fact, they are born between Syria and Iraq and then spread throughout the Mediterranean, even between the Greeks and the Romans.