Every year I hear that you're supposed to eat certain specific things on New Year's to have a lucky year. My grandmother always insists on particular dishes, but I don't really understand what the actual tradition is. What are the foods that actually bring good luck according to customs?
What really works is eating what your family has always eaten, because luck comes more from what you genuinely believe in than from what you read on the internet. But if you want to add something new this year, lentils make sense (they symbolize money) and they're still good the day after, unlike some dishes that become inedible.
Traditions vary from region to region, but the classics you find pretty much everywhere are lentils (they symbolize coins), grapes (for the 12 months), pomegranate and fish, while you should avoid poultry and shellfish because "luck flies away" with them. Honestly it's more about following what your grandmother did than any real universal rule - everyone has their own family customs and honestly just eating well with people you love already brings plenty of luck.
From my experience, my grandmother still makes the same lentil soup every December 31st after decades, and honestly the ritual matters more than the food itself. But if you want to know what's behind it: lentils are the classic choice because they look like coins (so money), white grapes or raisins represent the 12 months of the year, pomegranate is full of seeds that symbolize abundance. In some regions they eat cotechino with lentils, in others fish. It's not that one is right and the other wrong - it changes from North to South and also from family to family.
What I think is right in the previous answers is the point about personal belief. If you grow up eating certain dishes on December 31st, those become "your" lucky dishes, not because they have magical powers but because they represent continuity and tradition. That said, if you want to add something new or mix different customs, nothing bad happens. Superstition works when you believe in it, not when you follow a random recipe. What matters is choosing and respecting what you choose, not changing it every year.
If you really want to do things properly, eat what your family eats, and if you want to add other symbolic things (lentils, pomegranate), go ahead. But don't expect that on January 1st everything magically wakes up different. Luck comes from other things too: your attitude, what you do during the year, how you handle things. Food is just the ritual that helps you get your head in the right place.
I think the point is understanding that there's no one universal "true" tradition - it really changes from family to family and region to region, so what your grandmother says is probably what matters for you. That said, the symbols do come up pretty consistently: lentils for coins, grapes for the 12 months, pomegranate for abundance. Fish is common especially in the south. But if we're talking about what makes sense to eat without stressing yourself out, it's better to stick with what you already make at home, not reinvent everything on December 31st.
One detail the others didn't bring up: a lot of these things have practical logic behind them beyond just the symbolism. Lentils were affordable and nutritious food (hence the connection to money), grapes kept well until the end of the year, pomegranate is in season. It's not like they magically attract money, but eating well and mindfully on the first day of the year does create a different atmosphere compared to just grabbing whatever's on hand.
My advice: ask your grandmother what her mother used to make, and do exactly that. The ritual matters more than any single ingredient, and if you do it together every year it becomes your tradition, which is the only thing that really brings luck.
There's nothing "truly" right about it - what works is what you believe in and what you celebrate with the people you love, whether that's lentils, grapes, or whatever your grandmother used to make. The others are right that symbolism matters more than the recipe, but I'd add that the best part is choosing consciously: if you really want foods that historically have this reputation, go for lentils and grapes (the most common ones everywhere), but don't worry yourself about avoiding specific things - it's the positive mindset you start the year with that actually makes the difference.
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