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Continuing our research about the art of lunching around the world, we make our next stop in Japan. Japanese lunch habits and the attention for preparing healthy, almost sophisicated lunch boxes, have influenced not only western habits but also related tupperware designs. The Bento concept for example, has become so famous in Asia and around the world, that in some places Bento boxes are considered fashion accessories.
''Bento is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine. A traditional bento consists of rice, fish or meat, and one or morepickled or cooked vegetables, usually in a box-shaped container. Containers range from disposable mass produced to hand crafted lacquerware. Although bento are readily available in many places throughout Japan, including convenience stores, bento shops (弁当屋 bentō-ya), train stations, and department stores, it is still common for Japanese homemakers to spend time and energy for their spouse, child, or themselves producing a carefully prepared lunch box.
Bento can be very elaborately arranged in a style called kyaraben or "character bento". Kyaraben is typically decorated to look like popular Japanese cartoon (anime) characters, characters from comic books (manga), or video game characters. Another popular bento style is "oekakiben" or "picture bento", which is decorated to look like people, animals, buildings and monuments, or items such as flowers and plants. Contests are often held where bento arrangers compete for the most aesthetically pleasing arrangements.'' source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bento
Preparing a bento in Japan can be an extremely meticulous task: an incredible importance is given to food presentation. Some vegetables are cut to become real "sculptures to be eaten". There can be found different types of Bento: Shōkadō bentō (松花堂弁当) ,Chūka bentō (中華弁当) ,Kamameshi bentō (釜飯弁当) , Makunouchi bentō (幕の内弁当) ,Noriben (海苔弁), Sake bentō (鮭弁当) ,Shidashi bentō (仕出し弁当), Tori bento (鳥弁当), Hinomaru bento (日の丸弁当).The types vary in function of the ingredients, way of cooking or display box.
The recent fashion of bento in Western countries has contributed to its evolution: for reasons of conservation, most bentos are now made of hard plastic or stainless steel. The lines also evolved, giving colored boxes of all forms, and the content has adapted to the tastes of different countries. What remains however is the organization into compartments which allows to prepare a meal consisting of one dish and several side dishes or desserts.
What about your favorite Bento?...
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