For most of us, nothing announces a birthday quite like a huge frosted cake crowned with flickering candles. But what signals the start of celebration in China? Or Mexico? Or even Russia?
We've never heard of many of these traditions (thank you, Internets!), but like that most of them revolve around food:
• China - Noodles are eaten to ensure long life.
• England - A Fortune-Telling Cake is made with small trinkets baked inside. Whatever trinket you find in your slice gives you a glimpse of your future.
• Japan - The birthday boy or girl is given an entirely new set of clothes.
• Russia - Birthdays are celebrated with pies instead of cakes.
• Brazil - Birthday children receive candies shaped like fruits and vegetables. A pull on the earlobe is good luck for the coming year.
• Australia - Barbecues and fairy bread.
• Germany - Candles are lit in the morning and burn all the way to the evening.
• Mexico - Piñatas are filled with goodies and cracked open by the birthday girl or boy.
• India - Colorful clothes and chocolate.
Are you familiar with any of these traditions? How did you grow up celebrating birthdays?
Related: Same Time Next Week? Dinner Traditions Old and New
(Images: Flickr members geishaboy500 and quan ha licensed under Creative Commons)
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I'm from England and have never heard of a fortune-telling cake!?! The Internet is not always right ;o)
We have birthday cakes with candles or in novelty shapes just like you guys...
@saucefiend - too funny! I had never heard of fortune telling cakes either (and have relatives in England), but several websites mentioned them. Maybe they're an older tradition? If so, you should totally start a trend and bring them back!
Germany here, never heard about candles burning all day long... ;)
In Japan, the new clothes are for the new year, not birthdays. It used to be that EVERYONE celebrated their birthday on the new year rather than individually throughout the year, so their weren't traditionally any separate birthday traditions at all. Maybe now some people give the new clothes on the actual birthday, but everyone definitely needs new clothes for New Years.
My mom use to make fortune cakes. A cake with baked coins inside. Finding a quarter meant you'd have the greatest wealth that year (there was only one). But there was typically a total of about a dollar in the cake in smaller coins. Each was wrapped in a twist of wax paper; so it was pretty easy to find.
The other thing was trying to get butter on the birthday boy (or girl's) nose. Don't remember why, good luck maybe?
I'm in eastern Canada, if that helps.
I'm in canada and have memories of fortune cakes too as a child, but the English connection confuses me because I only experienced this in the homes of my francophone friends...? Same as Ketherian above, the bigger the money amount (quarter was the BEST!) the bigger the luck/fortune.
I'm from Western Canada and I recall having a few cakes with coins baked into them as well - we called them "money cakes." Generally there was one loonie and the rest was smaller change. Loved them as a kid!
My family is mostly of Eastern European descent, so doubtful that there is an English connection there. But I'm fourth/fifth generation Canadian, so who knows what we picked up from where along the way...
in new orleans (which sometimes seems like a foreign country), the birthday celebrant pins a dollar bill on his/her shirt with a safety pin to which people contribute additional bills throughout the day. by the end of the day, the birthday boy/girl has a small fortune!
The closest thing I know to the fortune-telling cake would be the traditional English fruitcake baked for Christmas with a coin inside.
I agree with saucefiend. I live in England and have ever heard of a fourtune telling cake for birthdays. A birthday cake here is a big bright thing with candles on the top.
There is a traditional of putting a coin in a Christmas pudding though. Maybe the two have been mixed up?
I'd love an Austrailian birthday but unfortunately, October is a little to cold for BBQs here!
I'm from Brazil and well, I never even saw one of these "candies shaped like fruits and vegetables." Really don't know what they are. No one ever pulled on my earlobe neither. :)
I think the closest thing to a Birthday tradition here is the "Brigadeiro" a chocolate sweet that is obligatory in every kid's party. It's wonderful and now it's a trend in grow-up parties as well thanks to some gourmet versions.
Canadian Money Cakes are the best!! We were less sanitary thought I guess, the money was cleaned, but then it was just shoved into the cake as is and icing went on top to cover the holes. I don't remember there being a fortune attached, but every kid is exciting to find money in their food!