Jun

The Art and Philosophy of the Doggy Bag

by Meredith Mullins on June 27, 2016

Dog with Doggy Bag, showing how different cultures deal with restaurant leftovers. (Image © Meredith Mullins & Charlie Meagher.)

Did someone say “Doggy Bag?”
© Meredith Mullins & Charlie Meagher

How Different Cultures Look at Leftovers

Are restaurant leftovers going to the dogs?

That depends on to whom and where you pose the question. Different cultures have different approaches to taking restaurant leftovers home. The history of the doggy bag is a bit furry . . . er, blurry.

The First Doggy Bag

Some say the idea dates back to Roman times, when food was often taken home in a napkin from multi-course, recline-while-you-eat meals.

We can trace the first doggy bags back to the U.S. during WW II when food was scarce and waste was unthinkable.

The idea was to give diners a way to bring leftover meat and bones to a canine best friend waiting eagerly at home. The dog was sometimes just a pretense, as the doggy bag was also a way to stretch food a little bit further in struggling households.

The first marketed doggy bag, created by the Chicago-based Bagcraft Corporation, included a poem written by the wife of the co-founder, as well as a diverse range of friendly dog faces (equal dog opportunity).

Oh where, oh where have your leftovers gone?
Oh where, oh where can they be?
If you’ve had all you can possibly eat,
Please bring the rest home to me.

The doggy bag evolved from there, into containers of all shapes and sizes, as well as creative art made by upscale restaurants.

Containers serving as doggy bags, ways that different cultures deal with restaurant leftovers. (Images © Thinkstock.)

The modern doggy bag takes many forms.
© rimglow (L)/design56 (M)/liopt (R)

Sometimes the dog got the leftovers and sometimes the food became the next meal for the humans in the family.

A large steak dinner, showing the need in the U.S. for a doggy bag for restaurant leftovers. Different cultures have different size portions. (Image © Monkey Business Images.)

Large portions in the U.S. lend themselves to doggy bags.
© Monkey Business Images

Doggy Bags Around the World

In addition to the U.S., where portions are so generous that doggy bags have become standard practice, many Asian cultures seem comfortable with “take home” requests. Restaurants have the requisite containers—from India to China to Singapore to Hong Kong.

Chinese take out boxes serving as Asian doggy bags for restaurant leftovers, showing that different cultures have different approaches. (Image © Medioimages/Photodisc.)

The familiar Chinese doggy bag
© Medioimages/Photodisc

The doggy bag concept, however, has been a bit slower to come to Europe.

You Can’t Take It With You

Years ago in France, the idea of even asking for a doggy bag sent fear through the heart. When diners finally conjured the courage, they were met with scorn, as only a French waiter can muster. An eye roll. A smirk. A “Ce n’est pas possible.”

Sometimes the waiter relented, but continued the theatrical production through public embarrassment or intentional torture of the food in question.

The dramatic sweep of a plate of choucroute, en masse, into an empty lard bucket—the only container that the kitchen staff could spare.

Waiter with bucket for restaurant leftovers, as different cultures have different solutions for the doggy bag. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Why not take home leftovers in an empty lard bucket?
© Meredith Mullins

The rolling of a salad into a tight aluminum foil cigar. The offer to allow the diner to take the casserole dish home and bring it back the next day. The stories are endless.

Even the best restaurants, anxious to please customers, had difficulty finding containers for the take-home food.

Doggy bags just weren’t part of the culture. They were an affront to dining etiquette. Portions were correctly sized so that diners were expected to savor every bite. Presentation, freshness, and impeccable timing for each course were priorities for the chef.

The idea of food being jostled, jarred, and rearranged by transport—or eaten or reheated hours later—was a well-sharpened knife to the heart of the French chef.

French dinner, making it difficult to package these restaurant leftovers into a doggy bag, the reason different cultures have different approaches. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

How could such a beautiful presentation be packaged “to go home?”
© Meredith Mullins

Oh, I See. You Can Teach an Old Dog New Tricks

In January 2016, life in France changed forever. A new doggy bag recommendation took effect.

No more waiter scowls when you ask to take your leftovers away. No more eye rolling. No more smirking in the kitchen about the “crazy Americans.” No more furtive searching for an appropriate container. When you ask for a doggy bag, you get one. A new era has been ushered in.

Why?

The French restaurant industry accounts for nearly one million tons of food waste annually. The government vowed to reduce food wastage by 50% by the year 2025. The doggy bag promotion was a first step.

Aluminum foil roll at Café de l'Homme, a doggy bag for restaurant leftovers signifying the approach of different cultures. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Salad smashed so beautifully into a tight aluminum foil roll
© Meredith Mullins

Other European countries are also tackling food waste reduction. The UK’s Sustainable Restaurant Association launched a “Too Good To Waste” campaign in 2011, giving out 25,000 recyclable doggy bags/boxes to participating restaurants—from Michelin-starred to fast-food chains.

Sweden also has a campaign called “Do Not Throw Away Your Food,” which educates the public on the effects of waste and promotes the use of doggy bags.

It may take awhile to change dining etiquette, especially when thinking about restaurant leftovers, but the wheels are in motion in several different cultures.

An aluminum foil swan, an artistic doggy bag, part of the different cultures approach to restaurant leftovers. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

An artistic approach to the doggy bag
© Meredith Mullins

The restaurant industry in France is already promoting a change from “le doggy bag” to “le gourmet bag.”

Soon, everyone will want one.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Meredith Mullins 8 Comments

Cultural Do's & Taboos

Jun

At Lunch in the World—How to Stay Out of the Soup

by Sally Baho on June 29, 2015

The continents depicted in cream in a bowl of tomato soup, illustrating that people at lunch around the world have different cultural do's and taboos. (Image © eyegelb / iStock)

Places to eat, and people to meet. Do you know what’s taboo?
© eyegelb / iStock

10 Cultural Do’s & Taboos at the Table

When you travel the world, there’s much more to dining than tasting the food. In fact, it’s the cultural dimension of the dining table (or mat) that often makes or breaks the meal. Here are 10 cultural do’s and taboos to keep you out of the soup when you’re at lunch in the world.

#1 Chile: Respect the Mealtime

In many places in Latin America, the working lunch just doesn’t work. On a business trip to Santiago, Chile, a colleague suggested that we save time by continuing our meeting over lunch.

Much to her surprise, a Paraguayan man in the meeting stood up, puffed out his chest, and insisted that lunch was the time to socialize with his colleagues, to learn about their families and their health, and actually eat his meal in peace.

We followed his lead and enjoyed the people and the pisco sour at lunch that day.

Two business colleagues at lunch in a restaurant in Santiago, Chile, enjoying each other rather than working over lunch, a cultural taboo in Chile. (Image © Sally Baho )

Taking time for people at lunch in Santiago, Chile.
© Sally Baho

#2 Romania, France, and Spain: Wait for the Cue

In Romania, only when the host(ess) says pofta buna may you begin eating. Similar wishes to enjoy the meal are common signals in other countries, too. In France, it’s bon appétit. In Spain, it’s buen provecho. And it’s taboo to start before the wish is spoken.

#3 Morocco: Be a Grateful Guest

A friend and I stayed with a family in Morocco. When it came time to take a meal, we all ate off of one central plate. The family would not eat the meat from the platter, and instead pushed it to our side.

We pantomimed that they eat the meat, too. They refused. We were their guests, and we soon learned that our role was to show how much we enjoyed and appreciated the dish, their company, and the environment.

Many cultures may wish to honor the guests by giving a toast, serving them first, or insisting they eat the best food. Graciously accept.

#4 Korea: Offer and Accept with Both Hands

In Korea, when offered or offering something—whether it be a cup, a dish, a napkin, money or pouring a drink—hold the item with both hands or at least touch your second hand to the arm carrying the item to show full intention and dedication to the act you are doing.

A young lady using both hands to pour soju for her father at lunch, illustrating respect for cultural do's and taboos. (Image © Sally Baho)

Pouring a drink with two hands shows respect.
© Sally Baho

#5 Chile: Always Use Utensils

In Chile, it is considered rude to eat with your hands. Use your utensils for everything, even something you may think of as finger food, like French fries.

#6 Ethiopia: Never Use Utensils

Ethiopian meals are served on a big central platter over injera bread—a sour, porous flat bread that is made from teff flour and used to scoop the dishes that are served directly on top of it. Individual plates and cutlery are not used.

A traditional Ethiopian meal served on injera bread, illustrating different cultural do's and taboos at lunch around the world. (Image © Tendur / iStock)

#7 Spain: Acknowledge Other Diners

In the US, it’s not unusual to enter a restaurant, isolate your party at a table, and leave as a group. But when you exit a restaurant or are leaving a meal in Spain, wish the other diners who are still eating buen provecho.

#8 Japan and China: Make Some Noise

Making noises while you eat, considered rude in some cultures, is a sign of meal appreciation in most Asian countries. Slurping soup and noodles in Japan and belching in China are compliments to the chef.

A woman slurping a noodle from a soup bowl, demonstrating different cultural do's and taboos at lunch around the world. (Image © Sean Barley / iStock)

#9 China: Leave a Little on Your Plate

By leaving a little bit of food on your plate in China, you are signaling to the hosts that they have provided you with plenty of food—a sign of abundance—which is considered a good thing.

#10 France and Spain: Don’t Rush the Coffee

You may like to have a coffee with dessert after your meal. But asking for coffee and dessert together in Spain or France signals that you’re in a rush. Wait for the coffee, and you’ll fit right in with friends who value the long after-dinner linger in France and the sobremesa, the slow conversation that carries on at the table after the meal in Spain.

A plaza full of diners at dinner enjoying the slow, post-meal conversation, illustrating how cultural do's and taboos vary by country. (Image © JackF / iStock)

Dining Around the World Is Easy!

Sharing a meal is one of the most beautiful experiences about traveling. All you need is an appetite and the savvy to navigate each country’s cultural do’s and taboos. A little research before you visit a new place will likely increase your worldwide dining wisdom. Surely, it will lead to some “Oh, I see” moments and a good time at lunch!

For more tips on navigating lunch around the world, see these infographics from Chef Works and Foodbeast. For broader information on different cultures, see the country guides at Everyculture and Kwintessential.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Sally Baho Comments

Crossing Cultures/Cultural Do's & Taboos/Worldwide Sites

Nov

20 Cultural Do’s and Taboos: Manners Around the World

by Janine Boylan on November 11, 2013

greeting manners and social graces: cultural do's and taboos

A Guide to Social Graces

Around the world, different cultures have different ideas about how to act in public. Here are 20 things to know to avoid embarrassing “Oh, I see” moments.

Janine Boylan 10 Comments