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So it's back to school for the kiddoes, soon if not already. And what's for lunch? Lunch boxes and brown bags are so 2005, now it's all about the bento box, the coolest lunch carrier for kids, teachers and anyone who takes a lunch to work. So let's take a quick lesson in bento.
Lesson One: Vocabulary
What is a bento? "A bento lunch is a compact, balanced, visually appealing meal packed in a box. Historically, it’s a Japanese box lunch, similar in concept to the Indian tiffin, the Korean dosirak, or the Filipino baon lunch. In Japanese, 'bento' or 'obento' refers to the packed meal, and 'bento-bako' refers to the bento box itself." ~ read Bento FAQs and Bento Top Tips from Lunch in a Box
Lesson Two: History
"My own mother spent countless hours preparing my sister and my lunch boxes when we were in middle school. Since we were living far away from school, she had to get up at the crack of dawn to prepare our lunches. And she went all out too. Our lives were a little bit complicated then and to make up for any time she missed with us, she put her heart and soul into those boxes every day to make sure we knew how much we were loved. Every bite was full of commitment and affection. I've never had food with so much spirit as that time period in my life." ~ read Why I Am Glad I Am Not a Japanese Housewife from Epicurean Debauchery
Lesson Three: Social Studies
"I grew up in the tradition of bento boxes. My mother didn’t call lunch 'brown bag lunches', she called them 'bentos'. When we went on a picnic, she said, “I’ll prepare a bento box.” And when I was on a school field trip, 'bento' it was, again. In 1970s America, that meant I got a lot of weird stares and finger pointing. All because I didn’t bring lunch in a lunch box with Daffy Duck on it or in a small paper brown bag. Or the requisite bologna sandwich with potato chips. I didn’t understand how awesome my bento box was at the time ... " ~ read about Tiffin Tins, a bento alternative, from MuffinTop
Lesson Four: Homework
"When other moms ask me for advice on what to put in the lunch box, I was all stoked to create lunch box recipes. I tried this whole concept of cooking yet more in a week on top of dinners. What I figured out is that the same dinner leftovers I eat for lunch work just great for the Kiddo too. Adding extra cooking work to the workload is kind of setting myself up for failure. Over the course of the week, it does mean making a few extra dishes to make sure we all have lunch AND dinner food. But, it's a lot easier to just cook more of something than to cook more somethings." ~ read LunchBox Notes (with recipes ideas, including Roasted Summer Vegetables) from Ex-Patriate's Kitchen
Lesson Five: Ecology
"My six-year-old goes back to school at the end of this month. Already. School. In August. Is wrong. Year-round preschool, on the other hand, is a beautiful, beautiful thing. Can I get a witness, parents of three-year-olds? ... So school. And all that goes with it. Like school supplies, clothes, and (ugh) lunches. ... I’ll spend the month of August highlighting simple ways you can green your back-to-school routine. Let’s start with lunches." ~ read about Greening School Lunches, from the 'Normal Green' column at Tonic by food and mommy blogger CityMama
Lesson Six: Recess
Other food bloggers who feature recipes for bento boxes:
Adventures in Bentomaking (be sure to check out her 100k Bento Contest
BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg is quite sure that Quick Crisp Flatbread would go great in a bento.
