Bento(弁当）- launched for G8 Summit celebration

Bento(弁当） represents "a box meal" in Japanese.
This type of food serving way has long history in Japan.  It has been our custom for over hundreds years to bring a box meal for traveling, watching entertainment programmes (for example Sumo wrestling, Kabuki play) or just enjoying fresh air of outside.
Nowaday,  Bento is still one of the most popular lunch time choices for Japanese business people. It would be their mother or wife who prepare a nice hand-made lunch box. Otherwise selections of Bento are available at convenience stores, supermarkets, department store food corners and small corners or stands specialized in Bento.

Today, a national round-the-clock convenience shop chain, Lawson launched a new Bento menu at their units in central districts of Tokyos for celebrating G8 Summit hosted by Japan next month.
According to the press release by the convenience shop giant, the company honors to be a cater for staff serving and guarding the important event.
The menu is almost same with what these staff have at or around the meeting venue.
Hokkaido region, where the global event will be taken place is the most north part of the country and is known for the vast land with rich nature and also for the harvest of high quality foods. Some of them, such as salmon, chicken, seaweed, are in the Bento as the feature of the product.

This is what I had as today's lunch, the Summit Bento by Lawson: salmon flake and sramble egg on top of rice, checken steak, fried chiken, potato salad, spaghetti with tomato source, pickels (all are typical Bento menu.)

A different type is on sale as the Summit Bento by Lawson.

It has a slice of grilled salmon, a piece of chicken, pan fried vegetable with seaweed and what can't be missed is a egg cake in the shape of "Hokkaido"!

How can we make this yellow cake so well

As you could recognize, it is not easy to put all food in a small square(or sometime round) box in a good presentation way. An excellent person in making Bento must consider the balance of nutrition as well as the combination of colors in box.

The more demanding work for Bento it is, will it make an eater the happier!

Note: Summit Bento is on sale at Lawson stores located within 23 central districts of Tokyo until 9th July 2008, the last date of Hokkaido Toyako Summit