Food superstitions

[monkeymay]

There all ALL SORTS of superstitions regarding women baking and cooking during their periods. Everything done during "this time of the month" is supposed to go HORRIBLY wrong. Bread will not rise. Don't even try it!! And if you like shark....jump in the ocean!! You'll attract, and catch a tasty one during your menses!!

[Mabelline]

If there is lightning in the morning, your eggs will spoil.

If there is lighting in the evening, milk will clabber.

If you cut the head from a snapping turtle, it will rain before 3 days

A piece of wedding cake you place under your pillow makes you dream of your husband-to-be (not to mention having grodie linens in the morning).

Oysters are an aphrodisiac.

Bread being made with a sin in your soul makes it refuse to rise.

If you spill a pot of coffee, your marriage will unhappy (this sounds more than a superstition--probably a warning from men).

Edited July 20, 2004 by Mabelline (log)

[Mabelline]

Oh, forgot this one: if you give someone a set of knives, you must set them on the table for recipient, not hand them yourself.

With a set of knives, you must always give the recipient a silver coin as well, so the knives never harm their owner.

Before you make your first cut with a knife, you must rub it down with salt.

[tanabutler]

As a child in Miami, we had a Cuban babysitter named Sarita. She told us:

1) Your stomach has two glasses in it: one for water, and one for milk and everything else. (No doubt this is the origin of "he has a glass stomach.")

2) When you are eating, the Devil is on one side and Jesus is on the other. The Devil is rooting for you to choke, and Jesus is on the other team.

[judiu]

QUOTE:

"The thing with animals and menstrual blood is pretty common - when I worked in the film business I did a couple of shoots with big cats, and that's what the trainers always told us -

"stay away, the cats will smell your blood, go nuts and attack"!

I always figured it was another piece of sexist bullshit from a male dominated industry (especially twenty years ago.)" /QUOTE

Actually, not. I worked with carnivals and circuses years ago and was warned the same way, except that I was told it would make the cats "agressive". It also made the elephants nervous.

[Smithy]

With a set of knives, you must always give the recipient a silver coin as well, so the knives never harm their owner.

Our family's version of this - I think it comes from the Tennessee hill country - is that you must never give a sharp object (knife or scissors, for example) as a gift, because the sharp edge will cut the friendship; the only way around it is for the recipient to give *you* a coin in return so it isn't really a gift. When my father was a boy, his father "gave" him his first pocket knife as a much-coveted birthday present - but then demanded a nickel in return. It was a terrible disappointment to Dad. To this day, I cringe when I give gifts of cutlery to friends, and on more than one occasion I've "happened" to mention the superstition just to see if the friend would give me back a penny! No, I'm not superstitious!

[jilli42]

I was taught that it was bad luck to pass salt directly to another person at the table, you were supposed to place it on the table next to their plate.

We had a similar rule..."pass the salt, pass the sorrow." So we always just placed the salt shaker down somewhere near the undersalted person. And I always shake it over my shoulders, both left and right, when I spill it. Silly...

I always throw a pinch of salt over my left shoulder if I spill it.....

[gingerly]

i've heard vaguely of a superstition in india about women'at that time of month' not being allowed into fruit orchards-specifically banana orchards, i think! apparently it has an adverse effect on the flowering/fruiting cycle-so what's new! well of course i dismissed it as yet another in an unending list of don'ts for women but in the context of pheromones and what not, mmmaybe-just mmmaybe there's something to this one that stems from keen observation and not ritual taboo?is there a' jumping'pheromone too?!

[Carrot Top]

There is a superstition that a woman from Spain once told me...a good luck ritual to be performed on the stroke of midnight, New Years Eve...

Take twelve grapes, eat them one by one, and with each make a wish for the coming year.

I'd never heard it before, but have since read of it in several books (though which ones, who knows...!)

What a wonderful romantic, superstitious ritual this seems to me!

[judiu]

There is a superstition that a woman from Spain once told me...a good luck ritual to be performed on the stroke of midnight, New Years Eve...

Take twelve grapes, eat them one by one, and with each make a wish for the coming year.

As I was given to understand it from a Spanish classmate at boarding school years ago, the eating of the grapes must co-incide with the twelve strokes of midnight. (By me this calls for seedless grapes ONLY!) But, yes a very romantic tradition!

[Carrot Top]

And of course, we all know it is imperative to hang wreaths of fresh garlic on our front doors to keep the vampires away.

[Carrot Top]

And another one...an Irish one...which I can not remember but it involves bringing a certain food along while visiting all the neighbors on Christmas Eve, to keep the Devil from coming along into the house with you....

I would say the food was a turnip (though I know it is not...that is just the original Jack O' Lantern), yes I will say the food was a turnip...for surely that will bring the Irishmen (and women!) to the table with responses!

[Carrot Top]

This topic is rather mesmerizing.

Here are some more:

If you put a piece of the wedding cake under your pillow, you will dream of who you will marry.

A raw egg swallowed with a dash of worcestershire and tabasco will cure your hangover.

And another...though it is not directly food-oriented, the original 'product' is a food of sorts...

What is it about a rabbit's foot that makes it lucky?

To me, it is just that some smart rabbit hunter thought of a great way to make some money on the leftovers...

[curlywurlyfi]

whenever we ate gingernut biscuits when we were little, we had to hold the biscuit in one hand and tap it firmly onto the point of the opposite elbow. If the biscuit broke into three parts, you could make a wish, but you had to be silent until you'd eaten the biscuit, or your wish wouldn't come true.

is it TOO MUCH COINCIDENCE that this was a rule taught us by our mother, and we only ever ate gingernuts on long journeys?

[Carrot Top]

You have a very wise mother.

About the only thing that does silence bickering siblings are superstitions.

It's even better when the children think only THEY know of this magic ritual.

I'm going to go make up some food superstitions right now, to use at opportune moments!

[Gifted Gourmet]

whenever we ate gingernut biscuits when we were little, we had to hold the biscuit in one hand and tap it firmly onto the point of the opposite elbow. If the biscuit broke into three parts, you could make a wish, but you had to be silent until you'd eaten the biscuit, or your wish wouldn't come true.

is it TOO MUCH COINCIDENCE that this was a rule taught us by our mother, and we only ever ate gingernuts on long journeys?

What a wise woman she was!! Lots of useless activity with food involved .. hmmm.. ingenious!

[curlywurlyfi]

actually, I used to think she had made it up, until I visited some friends whose daughter has severe cerebral palsy. She communicates in a version of sign-language, much less elaborate than the widely-known deaf persons' sign language - it consists mainly of single gestures to mean nouns and moods/desires (eg 'I need to go to the bathroom'). The symbol for 'I would like a biscuit' is to cup your elbow with the palm of your hand. So maybe the gingersnap thing is more widely known than my mum's car circa 1975!

[beercancan]

At I Chinese restaurant, after reading my fortune, I wouldn't tell anyone what it said, and then I would. . . well. . . I would eat it.

If you read the fortune before you are finished with the cooky it is negated.

[beercancan]

always let someone else pour your Sake for you and then you pour for them.

This is also a custom. In Japan it is rude to pour for yourself. During one of my power eating / drinking meals in Tokyo, the "pouring" turned into an argument by two of my hosts. A girl insisted that I drink Sake hot and a boy prefered it cold. I was subjected to alternating hot/cold shots of Sake until I agreed that hot was better.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Haven't thought about this topic in a long time until I read this today:

It is very unlucky to give parsley.

According to an oldwives' tale only the wicked can grow it.

Parsley should not be transplanted; it means a death in the family or bad luck.

Where parsley grows in the garden, the missus is the master.

Parsley is believed to prevent a pregnancy, and is sometimes eaten as a salad by young married women who do not desire to have a family.

If you want to bring on your period put a sprig of parsley inside your vagina for 12 hours - your period should start 24 hours later.

that seems to make sense ...

Old Superstitutions website

When eating a fish, you should begin at the tail and work towards the head.

To cut bread in an uneven manner is a sign that you have been telling lies

A loaf of bread should never be turned upside down after a slice has been cut from it.

Salty soup is a sign that the cook is in love.

Rosemary planted by the doorstep will keep witches away.

A wish will come true if you make it while burning onions.

[touaregsand]

"If you want to bring on your period put a sprig of parsley inside your vagina for 12 hours - your period should start 24 hours later."

Hilarious!

Flat leaf or curly parsley?

[Patrick S]

Does the belief that the omniscient, omnipotent Creater of the universe disapproves of Jello consumption qualify as a food superstition? I did not have any Jewish or Muslim friends growing up, so until I started cooking, I had no idea that there were people who thought god disapproved of jello (because it is derived from pork). I know some muslims believe that if they consume any haraam (forbidden) food, like Jello, that Allah will not listen to their prayers for 40 days.

When I was very little, my grandmother told me that water wouldn't boil if I kept taking the lid off to watch it. 'A watched pot never boils.' I wondered for a long time how the water could know I was watching!

[touaregsand]

Does the belief that the omniscient, omnipotent Creater of the universe disapproves of Jello consumption qualify as a food superstition? I did not have any Jewish or Muslim friends growing up, so until I started cooking, I had no idea that there were people who thought god disapproved of jello (because it is derived from pork). I know some muslims believe that if they consume any haraam (forbidden) food, like Jello, that Allah will not listen to their prayers for 40 days.

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I don't know too many Muslims who believe Jello is derived from pork. The question is the use of pork gelatin in Jello. I don't eat Jello and the product doesnt' interest me anyway, so I don't know if Jello is still made with pork gelatin or if it ever was.

Anyway, you're getting into religion which to some overlaps with superstition or is entirely superstition. But superstitions tend to be more random, whereas religion is neccessarily more organized... Religion isn't one of those things that can be dicussed with as much humour as superstitions can be. Well I can discuss religion with humour, but a public board wouldn't be my choice of venue.

In case you're wondering, I'm not religious at all.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Anyway, you're getting into religion which to some overlaps with superstition or is entirely superstition. But superstitions tend to be more random, whereas religion is neccessarily more organized...

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When religion and superstition occasionally overlap, I am reminded of why I don't hold with superstition ... when I was a child and went to services in a reform Jewish temple, a part of the service (near the end) involved a section which I invariarably wound up looking at my mother (who held a huge number of superstitious beliefs ) ... the lines I recall from the Union Prayerbook read something to the effect of hoping for a day in which "superstition no longer enslaves the mind nor idolatry blinds the eye" ...

Food superstitions I find fascinating but hold no belief in any of them ...

[CompassRose]

also, this one is weird.... one morning trying in vain to get my hollandaise to thicken, I guess I was cursing and venting too loudly and the chef noticed. Now since we are good friends he didn't think anything of asking me if I happened to have my period, and I said "well yes I do, how nice of you to ask"?? and he said that was why my sauce would not thicken............anyone else hear this?

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Oh, there's tons of menstrual ones. None that I've been personally told, but recorded in folklore studies? Oh yes. Menstruating women can't make cheese, or butter, successfully; can't beat egg whites; will make milk spoil instead of turning into yogourt or whatever; cakes will fall; shouldn't touch all sorts of foods or they'll spoil faster... It is a carryover from menstrual taboos, but it's interesting that a lot of them are of the "food magic" variety -- things like thickening sauces or making butter where the mechanism of how it happens isn't clear.