Bento is a meal that is served in a box. Often, the box has two or more compartments and sometimes the boxes are stacked on top of each other. Bento describes both the meal and the container it is stored in. Bento originated in Japan in the 17th century, gaining popularity in the 1880's as an early form of fast food sold at train stations. Later, Japanese children carried bento lunches to school. When the schools started providing lunch, bento's popularity went into decline.
But we’re predicting a strong comeback.
Bento has all the makings for a popular trend:
- it requires at least a few pieces of specific equipment offering an excuse to
- collect lots of special equipment
- you can find bento boxes in museums (antique lacquer) and in dollar stores (plastic)
- and everywhere in between
- it has a daily, practical use
- it is creative and expressive
- there’s ample opportunity to get a little obsessive
- it has strong cultural associations and, in the end,
- you get to eat it
There are bento sub-genres such as face bento and non-edible bento. And truly telling, there are numerous bento flickr groups and blogs and communities.
It’s a quick and stylish way to bring your lunch to places such as work or school or your next flight. Bento also helps alleviate wasteful paper and plastic bags. But in the end, bento is just plain fun to eat: all those little compartments, colorful arrangements and tasty bits here and there. Opening a bento box is a lot like opening a present and who doesn't enjoy that feeling?
(Image: e-obento)
My favorite bento blog is Vegan Lunch Box:
http://www.veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/
She blogged her son's lunches every day for 2 years and put the most popular ones in a cookbook:
http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Lunch-Box-Animal-Free-Grown-Ups/dp/1600940722/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215612524&sr=1-1
view Joy R.'s profile
*predicting* a comeback? the comeback has already been made! (seriously, search 'bento' in del.icio.us or another social bookmarking site and see what comes up!)
comeback aside, however, i'd like to add one or two things to your list of reasons for bento's popularity:
1. it's much "greener" than the average way to take your lunch, be it brown bag or whatever. if you have a couple of containers and use cloth napkins, you can take lunch every day without creating any trash. (other than food trash, that is. apple cores and the like don't magically disappear.)
2. taking your lunch this way - whether or not you cute it up - makes it much more fun and satisfying to take your lunch to work. virtually everyone in my office goes out for lunch, which i can't afford (in terms of money or health) and don't want to do. despite that, it's hard to be the only person left in the office at lunchtime. having a tasty, pretty, and, above all, a deliberately prepared lunch makes eating in feel like an indulgence, not a privation.
view katiebug's profile
I know a girl who makes a pretty bento every day. Some of the pictures she has posted online are absolutely adorable! I wish I did this!
view revolution9's profile
You're..."predicting" a strong comeback? This trend has been going strong for at least a few years now...
view Monkeyme's profile
My husband and I use a Laptop Lunchbox everyday (http://www.laptoplunches.com/). I love the fun of having lots of little containers, and it really helps with portion control.
I also second Joy's shout out for Vegan Lunchbox. That's where I learned about laptop lunchboxes.
Oh, another great bento box site is Lunch in a Box (http://lunchinabox.net/). A fantastic resource for making bentos!
view thesamanthafiles 's profile
a great resource for pictures of bento lunches is http://wendolonia.com/blog/. every week she posts pictures and descriptions of the bento lunches she packs for her pre-schooler.
view makyo's profile
Yeah, I have to add to the you're a little late for "predicting" chorus. Bentos are very popular right now, and have been for a while. Even Target has a knock-off (or an americanized version if you will) - I believe the line is called fit and fresh, but I may be wrong about that.
Bentos are a great idea. I dont miss going out to eat lunch everday at all.
view SleepyDweller's profile
Bentos are fantastic and a great way to help portion out your meals (and great for children to help them develop awareness of different food groups they ought to be eating).
I'm also loving tiffins as well, though they're a bit harder to find. Maybe I just love the charm of metal lunch containers...
view chow.baby's profile
I've absolutely jumped on the bento bandwagon lately. I've started eating a lot healthier, and healthy food is not readily available when I'm on the road working. so I've been making cute healthy bentos and eating them in my truck. :)
view tomahto's profile
Little late to the party, no? I've been doing bento lunches for awhile now -- to appreciate my culture (Filipinos call them "baon"), reduce garbage/food waste, and enjoy lunch in the office again. Once you get into the swing of it, it's really easy to do, too, especially if you don't "over-cutify" it.
Another good blog to check out is Just Bento, where Maki, a Japanese ex-pat blogs great ideas and tasty bento recipes, both Japanese and worldly.
view Lorena in SD's profile
I've recently been bitten by the bento bug, too.
Look around before you buy a bento, too. A lot of ebay sellers overprice their stuff, and there's no need to spend $15 on a bento box. Here are some cheaper alternatives:
Ichiban Kan is a Japanese dollar store in California that sells bento supplies for under $2. They have an online store: http://www.ichibankanusa.com/s.nl/sc.13/category.171/.f I've bought a lot of stuff from them, and it's very good.
Also, check out what your local grocery store or big box store has that you can use for bento. Hostess, Wonderbread and a lot of other food brands make plastic snack containers shaped like their food that are perfect for bentos.
view Design Benign's profile
You don't need any kind of special container to pack a bento-style lunch. I've been packing mine in a square IKEA tupperware-like container for over a year now.
view Miyuki Mouse's profile
I find bento is the best way to get picky kids to eat their lunch. I make bento for both my kids' lunch.
Here's a sample from a couple years ago.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/145/434642162_0d789b0136_o.jpg
view little green's profile
Yes, indeed, opening a bento box is a lot like opening a gift! In fact, the bento box lunch was my inspiration for creating Bento Box Gifts. Most people I meet, however, aren't familiar with bento boxes (perhaps because of my geographic location), even if Target does stock them.
view Bento Box Girl's profile
I love bento lunches in these boxes and bento gears to make them.
http://www.from-japan-with-love.com
view Popia's profile