You can’t get much more ordinary than eating! Or can you?
My celebration of the ordinary today focuses on our lunchtimes. And more importantly our lunches! Pretty much every day I have lunch with my colleagues, and the scene depicted below is a fair and accurate impression of the daily experience.
The hero of our lunch is in fact the amazing yet humble tiffin box. This perfectly designed lunchbox contains every element and nutrient needed for the perfect lunch. They are produced in an unending variety of designs with two or three layers or even more, different sizes and different widths. We can procure the perfect tiffin box for our needs. My own tiffin box has two storeys and I carry it to work in the cutest little wicker basket.
In the lunch room we sit together, dismantle our tiffin boxes and spread the various dishes we have on the table. One of the nicest things about Myamar culture is that we share the assortment of dishes freely, tasting and savouring such a wide variety of flavours and regional specialties.
And then, at the end of the meal, when every last bite is finished, the hotch potch of assorted tiffin tinlets are magically rearranged back into their individual tiffin boxes ready to be dismantled, washed, taken home and prepared for the next day’s lunch.
Philippa, how extraordinary! And yet it must be ordinary for you, a typical workplace lunch in a typical day. I’d never heard of tiffin boxes until you featured them here. The Japanese have their bento boxes, the closest I can think of to these. I love the idea of your sharing yours with the rest of the group, family style. What I wouldn’t give to experience that culture. Thanks for another taste of your corner of the world. xox
More synchronicity Philippa…lunch features in my celebration today too
I loved reading this account of lunch Myamar style…I really, really like those tiffin boxes…and love the fact that everyone shares. What a great post!
Philippa, I had never heard of tiffin boxes, and now I know! What a great concept to share lunches — and a great sense of community, too.
Philippa, this is so cool!! It’s like having a pot luck every day
Now I want a tiffin box … and I want all my staff to have tiffin boxes too!! What a great way to enjoy lunch with colleagues.
Not a plastic baggie in sight — I love it! Those darn baggies are ubiquitous in my corner of the world, and I shudder at the thought of thousands of them going into trashcans all across the country every single day at lunchtime. My kids’ lunches go into reusable containers, but none as cool as the tiffin box!
Well, this is simply amazing. Talk about taking the ordinary to a whole different level. I love the tiffin boxes. Even more than that, I love the sharing that goes on at your table. How wonderful!
I just love the way the everyday tiffin box was the source of such interest! I agree – everyone should have a tiffin box, and they should be the norm in workplaces. There is a fascinating system in Mumbai of collecting and distributing gazillions of tiffin boxes daily (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/jun/24/worlddispatch.india ) and (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyiuRWJ2AKE) give an insight.