The doggiebag is not for the doggies

JAKARTA (JP): When Mrs. Susilo went to a Chinese restaurant in Amsterdam in the early 1980s, she was served so much food that she could not finished it. Just as she was contemplating what a waste it was, another tourist walked in and she offered the food to him. The tourist was very happy and when the waitress came to take his order, he just asked for a glass of beer. The waitress scolded Mrs. Susilo and said that she had robbed her of business.

"But why did you serve us so much food?" asked Mrs. Susilo. "You saw that there were only two people eating but you gave us an order for six."

The waitress told her that all the portions were that big, they don't have orders for just two people. "You could have taken it home, we would have been happy to wrap it for you."

"Take it home?" Mrs. Susilo said, insulted. "Who do you think we are, to take leftover food home? We don't do that in Indonesia and, besides, we are not from here, we leave for the United States tomorrow and we are not allowed to bring food there."

Whereupon the waitress, not being able to communicate further, banged plates and crockery on the table for the tourist. Mrs. Susilo left but when she saw a shabbily dressed man outside the restaurant rummaging in the waste bin, she thought that she should have asked for the food to be wrapped so she could give it to the poor man.

While she was in the U.S., Mrs. Susilo's daughter ordered a meal for two at a Chinese restaurant and, again, the portions were so big there was still a lot left over. To her dismay, Mrs. Susilo noticed that her daughter asked for a doggie bag. A big argument followed but her daughter explained that it was the policy of the restaurants to serve big meals, to be able to cover operation costs.

Mrs. Susilo was even more surprised when the waiter came back with a bag with "doggie bag" printed on it and, as if to console them, some extra fortune cookies on top. When they walked through the tables to go home, she looked around to see whether people were staring at them but her daughter carried the bag as if she had 101 Dalmatians at home.

"For us students this is quite practical because it saves us cooking at least one meal. After all, we have paid for it, should we just allow them to throw it away?"

After that Mrs. Susilo was converted, especially nowadays that taking leftover food home has become quite common in Indonesia. She even tries to persuade everyone else to take home the food they can't finish, as if she was the one who invented the doggie bag. When she had a party at her home she had plastic boxes and bags ready to wrap any food the guests wanted to take home.

"Caterers always think that people eat a lot, but in fact they don't anymore. Everybody is weight conscious and that is why hostesses are left with a lot of food," she says. "So, please, help me by taking some home. It is also good for the environment"

Now that the doggie bag has gone global, restaurants in Indonesia also stock plastic bags and boxes to wrap up the food. The nicest part about it is that they don't call it doggie bag or da bao (wrap it) like in Hong Kong, they just call it "take out", as if you have bought freshly cooked food.

However, people still seem to be a little contrite carrying a bag from a restaurant and may find excuses like: "My son has exams so he could not be here".

But the nicest excuse I have ever heard is: "This is for my cook, so she will know how good food should taste".

-- Myra Sidharta