10 Symbolic Rosh Hashanah Foods (Simanim)

Symbolic Foods for the Jewish New Year

An illustration of common Rosh Hashana foods

The Spruce Eats / Hilary Allison

There is a tradition at Rosh Hashanah to eat symbolic foods (simanim) meant to help ensure a good new year. This list blends both Ashkenazic (Eastern European) and Sephardic (Mediterranean) traditions and includes recipe suggestions for integrating symbolic foods throughout your yom tov (holiday) menus.

Another option is to incorporate lots of simanim into a single dish—think salads, grain pilafs, or sweet stews called tzimmes.

  • 01 of 10

    Honey

    Overhead of a natural honey comb on plate with spoon

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    How better to wish for a Shana Tova U'Metukah—a good and sweet new year—than to eat one of nature's sweetest foods? For Ashkenazim in particular, apples are the iconic accompaniment to honey.

    100% pure honey, without added flavors or additives, is kosher even if the package does not have a hechsher. While added flavorings present a kashrut (kosher) issue, the naturally occurring flavor and color variations imparted by individual flower nectars are totally fine. In honor of the holiday, seek out a special varietal honey. Better yet, offer a tasting flight of several intriguing kinds of honey.

  • 02 of 10

    Pomegranates

    Four pomegranates on table with one that has been cut open

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    The rimon, or pomegranate, is special for many reasons. It is one of the Seven Species of Israel and has traditionally been used as a "new fruit" for the Shehechiyanu blessing (celebrating new and unusual experiences) on Rosh Hashanah.

    There's another link between pomegranates and the Jewish New Year—just as the fruits are full of seeds, we hope we'll be similarly full of merits in the coming year.

  • 03 of 10

    Carrots

    A basket filled with fresh, raw carrots

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    Gezer, the Hebrew word for carrot, sounds very much like g'zar, the Hebrew word for decree. Eating them on Rosh Hashanah is meant to express our desire that G-d will nullify any negative decrees against us. Interestingly, the Yiddish words for "carrots" and "more"—mern and mer, respectively—are strikingly similar. So among Yiddish speakers, carrots symbolize the desire for increased blessings in the new year.

    Please your vegetarian guests with a vegetarian Moroccan carrot and chickpea tagine and finish the meal with a delicious pareve carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

  • 04 of 10

    Beets or Spinach

    Organic beets with their greens and one has been cut in half

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    The Hebrew word for beets, selek, is similar to the word for "remove." They're eaten to express the hope that our enemies will depart. In Aramaic, the language of the Gemara, silka referred to a leafy green vegetable akin to spinach. Some maintain that this leafy green is the original symbolic food for Rosh Hashanah and that beets are a more recent development.

    If you'd like to feature beets on your holiday menu try roasted sweet potatoes and beets or Moroccan sweet beet salad.

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  • 05 of 10

    Black-Eyed Peas, Green Beans, or Fenugreek

    Black Eyed Peas resting in a bowl

    Alejandro Rivera / Getty Images

    Rubia, which may refer to several different types of small beans, or even fenugreek, is reminiscent of the word yirbu, "to increase." These foods symbolize the hope for a fruitful year filled with merit.

    Bring some festive flavors and perhaps good luck to your Rosh Hashanah table with recipes such as Moroccan black-eyed peas (cowpeas), sesame green beans and methi paratha (fenugreek paratha).

  • 06 of 10

    Heads: Fish, Sheep, Cabbage, or Garlic

    A whole grilled fish resting with some dill and lemon slices

    JazzIRT / Getty Images

    Including some sort of head on the menu is representative of our hope that we are likened to a head, and not a tail. In other words, we should move forward and make progress in the coming year, rather than follow or linger in the rear. Vegetarians may opt for a head of cabbage or garlic in place of the traditional fish or sheep's head.

    A simple and delicious way to incorporate a head at your table is with roasted garlic and a rainbow slaw including cabbage (both pareve). If you are okay with a fish head, try porgy baked in salt (pareve), or any other baked whole fish you prefer. For those who are of the more adventurous kind, a steamed sheep's head (meat) will do the trick.

  • 07 of 10

    More Fish

    Cooked salmon on a bed of asparagus

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    The ancient belief that fish don't sleep has been discredited, but the notion that fish are ever vigilant and swim constantly is linked to this symbol and reflects the desire to be constantly aware of God and of opportunities to do good.

    There are so many fish recipes to choose from, but here are a few ideas to get you started. How about lemon-garlic baked salmonlemon herb baked halibut (pareve), or garlic-flavored baked sea bass? For something different, try Indian-spiced salmon.

  • 08 of 10

    Leeks, Chard or Spinach

    Bunches of leeks at a European Farmer's Market

    Louise LeGresley / Getty Images

    The word for leek is related to the word kareyt, meaning to cut. This symbol is linked to the prayer that those who wish to hurt us will instead be cut off.

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  • 09 of 10

    Gourds

    A variety of winter squashes resting in different baskets

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    The Hebrew word for gourd is related to the Hebrew homonyms pronounced k'ra. One word means "to rip;" the other, "to announce." We ask that the Lord rip up any evil decree against us and that our merits be announced before Him.

    Fall is the perfect time to serve gourds as they are in peak season. Start the meal with Moroccan pumpkin and chickpea soup.

  • 10 of 10

    Dates

    A pile of dates resting on a white plate

    The Spruce Eats / Miri Rotkovitz

    The Hebrew word for dates, t'marim, evokes the word tam, "to end," and the hope that our enemies will be finished. On a more positive note, dates, like pomegranates, are one of the Seven Species of Israel. While archaeological evidence now shows that beekeeping was practiced in ancient Israel, it is generally agreed that when Israel is called "a land flowing with milk and honey," the Torah is referring to date honey.