These are tiffin carriers. A tiffin is a light snack, in some South Asian dialect, and the tiffin carrier is a set of stainless steel nesting bowls in which South Asian people in Mumbai and other Indian cities use to carry snacks or lunch. In a neat fast-food system, which has apparently been replicated in Portland and Seattle, there are people who make lunches according to a customer’s desires, and carriers bring them to their office buildings in the stainless steel boxes. (We’ve seen a documentary on this, and it’s amazing how many of these things you can get on the back of a bike or a Vespa in India!) It’s not always a company thing; many South Asian wives make their spouses hot lunches and they’re picked up by carriers and taken directly to their offices.
We have a tiffin carrier which we’ve never photographed. We bought it in California. It’s quite convenient, but it gets… some looks. And not just from Scots.
Previously we’ve noted South Asian strangers’ fascination with D’s tiffin. A Bangladeshi gentleman on the way to work remarked, and went so far as to express shock that D. did not have a South Asian wife. He seemed relieved upon learning that D. is from California; apparently Californians are strange enough that whatever they do is deemed perfectly normal.
On the way to work this morning, D. stopped into the little convenience store, beside the recently-closed one-0-one liquor store. He picked up two packs of gum, setting them on the counter along with his tiffin carrier & coffee mug. The South Asian man behind the counter asked, “is this all for you?”
It sounded a bit odd, as the emphasis was on “you” rather than “all,” but D. answered the question in the spirit in which he thought it was intended, which was to ask whether his selection of gum was all he was going to buy. However, when D. said, “Yes,” the checker responded, “Where are you going?”
“To work,” D. said, confused.
The checker blurted, “It’s too much!”
Only after turning this conversation over for a while did D. realize: this is a man who was asking if his TIFFIN carrier was all full of food for him! And, of course, he must have assumed that what’s INSIDE the tiffin must have been something similar to what HE would have carried in one, which would make the amount “too much!”
Who needs Weight Watchers when we’ve got the Neighborhood (Weight) Watch?
– D & T
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Oooo–these look really cool.
I’ve seen these little darlings in various places on the web, but never in person. I have to say that I am very intrigued! I love that they are stainless and stack.
What a great story! I’ve never seen one of those. I would give you weird looks too.
You really threw him for a loop! Tiffins are so great; I can’t wait till I have an excuse to use one. Living across the street from the university means that I just walk home for meals. 🙂
So what WAS in D’s tiffin carrier?
They’re just fabulous, particularly because they keep your sandwich from getting smooshed, and your salad in its own compartment. One lament is that there’s no easy storage for utensils, so I end up tucking a spork down along the band. The other lament is that you must carry all three compartments, as the bands don’t change size.
In my tiffin will be a main course, a salad, and a sweet. Plus a small salt shaker and a napkin. That particular day’s main was a sandwich.
We had a tiffin carrier too. Our eldest got it when she was in the Army Cadets and I’m sure it was always filled to the limit.
In Japan, they have what they call bento-bako, or lunch boxes. They are very similar, but they are made of plastic or lacquerware, and they stack very neatly. You can see people whipping all over Tokyo with bento-banko stacked high on the backs of their motorcycles.
LOL! Nothing like your neighborhood watch. 😉 I’ve never heard or seen the tiffin carrier before. Glad you’ll be moving. Too bad it isn’t sooner.
Paz