Tiffin carrier

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}{{Short description|Lunch box used widely in Asia and the Caribbean}}

Tiffin carriers or dabbas are a kind of lunch box used widely in Asia and the Caribbean for tiffin meals. From India, they spread to Malaysia and Singapore{{cite book |last1=Leong-Salobir |first1=Cecilia |title=Food Culture in Colonial Asia; A Taste of Empire |date=2011 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=9780415606325 |edition=Hardback |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q0a4QLN1CQgC&q=%22the%20curry%20tiffin%22&pg=PA57 |page=57}} and to Trinidad and Tobago.{{cite web |last1=Yang |first1=Eun |last2=Gibson |first2=Teneille |date=July 6, 2021 |title=Food Fare: H Street's Cane Pays Tribute to Trinidad Roots with Tiffin Boxes |url=https://www.nbcwashington.com/entertainment/the-scene/food-fare-h-streets-cane-pays-tribute-to-trinidad-roots-with-tiffin-boxes/2721277/ |publisher=NBCUniversal Media}}

In the Indian city of Mumbai, there is a complex and efficient delivery system that regularly delivers hot lunches packed in dabbas to city office workers from their suburban homes or from a caterer. It uses delivery workers known as dabbawalas.

The book Tiffin: An Untold Story covers 172 tiffin carriers, some over a century old.{{Cite web |last=Filmer |first=Andrea |date=2020 |title=Malaysian book explores the wonders of vintage tiffin carriers |url=https://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/culture/2020/04/07/a-malaysian-book-documenting-the-wonderful-world-of-vintage-tiffin-carriers |access-date=2022-11-20 |website=The Star |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Ong |first=K.H. |date=March 8, 2020 |title=Story of tiffin carriers never dies, say authors after book launch |url=https://www.buletinmutiara.com/story-of-tiffin-carriers-never-dies-say-authors-after-book-launch/ |access-date=2022-11-20 |website=Buletin Mutiara}}

Nomenclature

In Cambodia, tiffin carriers are known as Chan Srak ({{langx|km|ចានស្រាក់}}), in Hokkien they are called Uánn-tsân ({{zh|c=碗層}}), in Indonesian as rantang; mangkuk tingkat ('tiered bowls') in Malay; while in Thai they are known as Pin To ({{langx|th|ปิ่นโต}} [ˈpìn ˈtoː]).

In Arab countries they are called safartas (سفرطاس, from Turkish "sefer tası" meaning 'travel bowls'). The Hungarian word for a tiffin box is éthordó ('food carrier').

Design and materials

Normally these containers come with two or three tiers, although more elaborate versions can have four. The bottom tier, sometimes larger than the others, is the one usually used for rice. Tiffin carriers are opened by unlocking a small catch on either side of the handle. Tiffin carriers are generally made out of steel and sometimes of aluminium, but enamel and plastic versions have been made by European companies.

Image:Mumbai Dabbawala or Tiffin Wallahs- 200,000 Tiffin Boxes Delivered Per Day.jpg|Two dabbawalas in Mumbai delivering meals packed in tiffin carriers

Image:Tiffin box made in Thailand.jpg|Thai tiffin box in Bangladesh.

File:Tiffin Carrier Lack, Sammlung Gunther Lambert.jpg|Tiffin carrier, Burmese Lacquerware

Image: Pernakan Tiffin Carrier.png|Malaysia, Peranakan tiffin carrier

References

Bibliography

J. Prakash & M. Punita (2020) Tiffin: An Untold Story{{ISBN needed|date=November 2022}}

Tiffin carrier

Nomenclature

Design and materials

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading