If there is one tradition Cuban-Americans have stuck with through the ages, it is eating 12 grapes on New Year’s Eve. Twelve grapes at the stroke of midnight. For good luck, of course.
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| Waiting for midnight |
The story I always heard as a child is that the tradition started in Spain and quickly spread to Portugal, and then Spanish and Portuguese colonies. You eat one at each stroke of midnight, trying your best to eat all the grapes by the sound of the last bell. Each grape represents a different month, with the associated taste. If for instance your third grape is particularly sweet, you can expect a joyful month of March. On the other hand if you eat a sour grape at the sixth stroke, June might bring you bad luck.
I remember the year I forgot to buy grapes until the last minute on a cold, rainy New Year’s Eve. All out at the Safeway, and I was relegated to raisins instead. On the up side, they were all sweet. But I don’t remember if it was a very good year.
I long ago stopped staying up until midnight on New Year’s Eve, but we do all eat 12 grapes together before the little one is ready for bed.
¡Te deseo un feliz y próspero año nuevo!
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