"onigiri" news and stories

For your lunchtime pleasure, I'm presenting a series of my favorite bento boxes. Bento are Japanese home-prepared meals served in special boxes, usually eaten for lunch at work or school. The boxes can range from austere lacquered trays to multi-tiered Hello Kitty confections of neon pink plastic. The meals themselves are anything from rice and leftovers to elaborate themed affairs of Pikachu-shaped dumplings with sesame seed eyes and carved radish trees. These days, bento enthusiasts from all over the world share their creations on Flickr.

Today's lovely bento, from Mimisimos, is a minimalist work of art. There are two onigiri (rice balls) with tuna salad and bits of nori, a line of cherry tomatoes, a nectarine with a blackberry in the center, and some extra tuna salad on lettuce with some sliced cucumbers. Lovely, highly edible, and healthy.

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I love Japanese food. And I love Monty Python. But the two can never blend.

So when one blogger sent a URL describing Spam onigiri, I naturally launched into Monty Python's immortal "Spam Sketch" (Spam! Spam! Spam! Spam!....) while simultaneously dreaming about the taste of those glorious triangles of rice Japanese eat for lunch...until I stopped short.

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• This summer, how about a Cuban barbecue (and I don't mean Mark)?
• Boston gets into Pocky and Onigiri, thanks to Dice-K.
• Speaking of Fenway, a chef is trying to bring more restaurant-quality foods to the ballpark.
• An interview with chef and author Marco Pierre White (right).
• A taste test: are these cabernet-based red wines from California or Bourdeaux?
• This week's recipes: Sweet Potato Fries, Salmon Mousse with Sour Cream Dill Sauce, Zucchini Carpaccio with Avocado, Lemon, Thyme, and Pistachio Oil, and Fennel, Treviso, and Prosciutto Salad with Anchovy-Date Vinagrette.