Pork traditional for good-luck feasts

My neighbor Alice Girven invited Jamie and me to a good-luck dinner on New Year’s. She grew up in Harrisburg, Pa., near the Pennsylvania Dutch area of Lancaster County where her German neighbors ate pork and sauerkraut on New Year’s for good luck and prosperity in the coming year.

Mainers don’t seem to have any special good-luck foods to eat, though in other parts of the country there are various traditional good-luck dishes. A very long time ago, someone explained to me that pork was good luck because pigs root forward, whereas a turkey scratches and hops back.

I am always a little skeptical of such tidy explanations.

The sauerkraut and pork are cooked together, the potatoes are boiled and mashed, and served with the applesauce in side dishes. Alice said, “As a kid, I used to put down a layer of sauerkraut, then potatoes on top, then I frosted it with applesauce. That’s how I ate the three layers.” She says she outgrew that, but you might enjoy it that way.

The applesauce is not supposed to be a sweetened version; merely stew it with the skins on to give it color before you run it through a sieve or food mill.

These instructions are for six to eight servings, but you can reduce the quantities for a small gathering.

New Year?s Pork and Sauerkraut

Serve 6 to 8

5 pounds sauerkraut

5 pounds pork

11 potatoes

8 pounds apples

In a 9-by-13-inch baking pan, layer the sauerkraut, then place the pork in it, add a little water, and cover the pan. Bake at 325 F for 25 minutes per pound. Keep it covered and moist; it is not supposed to brown. Boil and mash the potatoes just as you usually do. Prepare the apples by coring and stewing them. Run them through a food mill.

Send queries or answers to Sandy Oliver, 1061 Main Road, Islesboro 04848. E-mail tastebuds@prexar.com. For recipes, tell us where they came from. List ingredients, specify number of servings and do not abbreviate measurements. Include name, address and daytime phone number.