When you plan your New Year’s dinner menu, be careful about which foods you choose.

A quick search of the internet reveals that lobster, for example, is on the “no” list – they move backwards, meaning a year filled with setbacks. Herring, at least in Scandinavia and Germany, is definitely on the “yes” list. In fact, fish symbolize abundance in many cultures, particularly in Asia, where people feast on whole fish at the time of the Lunar New Year.

Whatever the choice, make sure your pantry and cupboards are full of food to signal a year of plenty. And leave a little food on your plate when you’re done eating – same reason.

Other foods thought to bring luck at New Year’s include grapes – the Spanish believe eating 12 of them at the stroke of midnight means good luck for each month of the new year.

Cornbread, with its rich, golden colour, symbolizes prosperity in the new year. Want to bump up the luck? Add some kernels of corn – gold nuggets.

The Irish bang a loaf of bread against the doorframe to chase away bad luck. Another Irish tradition involves sharing bread with friends and loved ones to bring good luck.

Round foods, especially sweets like doughnuts and cookies, are also thought to bring good luck all year round.

There’s a savoury element to the concept – lentils are not only round, but plentiful, and they swell in size when cooked – surely a good sign.

The main course should probably be pork – not only are pigs large, signalling prosperity, but they root for food in a forward direction, not backward, like chickens. So … ham, not fried chicken. Avoid turkey, too, just to be on the safe side.

We may hang mistletoe, but in Greece, people hang onions in doorways at New Year’s – they’re a symbol of fertility and rebirth.

The Greeks have other symbols of fertility. Dropping a pomegranate on the floor at the New Year, to scatter its many seeds, symbolizes abundance.

For side dishes, there are a number of choices, but make sure they feature greens – greens on the table bring green in the wallet, in the coming year.

In the Chinese tradition, foods of any colour, as long as it’s bright, are lucky. Avoid white at all costs – no banana pudding for dessert.

Of course, there is no better drink to wash it all down with than champagne, a symbol of wealth in many cultures.

An extra caution – don’t hand a knife to anyone on New Year’s. Just set it down within their reach and let them pick it up on their own, so as not to injure the friendship.

And serve everything on paper plates – don’t do the dishes (or take out the garbage, or do other housework). Doing so might wash away the good luck in your life. Others believe what you do on New Year’s is what you’ll be doing the rest of the year.