They lost me with the pink stuff and the things that look sliced tentacle. |
The first is the box. In Japan, bento can be served in anything from disposable takeout containers to traditional black lacquered boxes (which, according to Wikipedia, actually inspired the design of the IBM ThinkPad, thus satisfying my daily requirement of strange random knowledge). Japanese bento boxes can also come in bamboo, clay, or metal varieties. To the American crafty mom, this all boils down to one thing: Cute little boxes to buy!
Bento boxes are popping up everywhere - in stores, online, on crafty-mom blogs. Typically they look something like this model I found at Laptop Lunches:
See the darling little compartments? See the matching silverware? See the $41 price tag? Seems kind of pricey for something that's going to end up in the lost and found three weeks after school starts.
You can get cheaper options, however, like this quite adorable panda-shaped box that I found on Amazon:
D'awwww! For $12.99, I'd actually consider this for my own lunches. Honestly, though, if I were going to do the bento thing, I'd probably rely more on this traditional form:
Which is why I'm not a crafty mom. They won't even let me into their symposia with aesthetic sensibilities like this.
The second essential component of bento that's making American moms wet their aprons is the opportunity for self-expression. Now, admittedly, I'm not a foodie. I don't swoon over radish roses. My idea of decorating a cake is taking the big jar of sprinkles that's divided into four colors and giving each one a good shake over the top. Although I enjoy cooking, I feel my obligation in feeding my family ends at edibility, not artistic presentation. So while I appreciate the cuteness of kyaraben bento, in which the food is arranged to look like animated characters...
I mean, who wouldn't want to bite the head off that? |
But for crafty moms, packing a lunch filled with creatively rendered foodstuffs must be something akin to winning an Olympic gold medal while simultaneously reaching orgasm and fitting into skinny jeans. Or so I surmise, based on the existence of crafty-mom blogs like bentolunch.net. Or as I feel the need to call it, whyyourluncheslooklikeshitcomparedtomine.net. Really and truly, I'm not mocking the mom who writes this blog. You've got to click through to see some of her bento creations. They're amazing. But you may as well ask me to become Prime Minister of Pakistan as to try to duplicate any of them on a school morning or any other morning for that matter.
It is too Spongebob! It's square, isn't it? Get in the damn car. |
As you may have gathered, I'm no stranger to being one-upped by the crafty moms. The ones whose vacation pictures nestle in elaborately themed scrapbooks and not on a hard drive. Or serve individually decorated cupcakes that didn't originate in a clear plastic box. The ones who put this font on everything:
AKA Cheerleader Serif. |
To prove my point, my parting shot is not at crafty moms, but at The Dallas Morning News, which inspired today's post by running an article about bento. Now, what I find appealing about the idea of bento is not the gotta-buy-that trendy boxes or the styling and staging of the presentation, but that the menu traditionally consists of lean protein, rice, and raw veggies. In keeping with its own aesthetic sensibilities, the Morning News ran this picture of a Dallas-style bento lunch.
A hot dog, a cupcake, and a spork. If that doesn't define suburban-Dallas bento, I don't know what does.
That cupcake totally doesn't look like Pikachu, by the way.
My favorite is the squished hot dog. Who wouldn't want that for lunch?
ReplyDeleteIt's wrinkled, too, as if Mom had grilled it a couple of days ago. But it fits in the cute box, dammit!
ReplyDeleteWhat a hilarious column! Yes, the bento boxes are totally cute but kind of impractical. My kids may not be thrilled with their PBJs in recycled bags, but at least they don't get the cold Indian meatloaf I've seen in some kids' lunches at school.
ReplyDelete