Effective Food packing tips. Review on Packing Food for Train Travel

Leaving in a few days!, everyone is busy packing their bags, stuffing clothes, toiletries, medicines and keeping a list of everything to be packed. Traveling in India is a big preparation . In other countries for grub, I assume that folks pack in fruits, sandwiches or have their grub in the Train's Dining Car. The scene in Indian Train travel is different though . There is never a Dining Car in the trains, we do have a Pantry car( only in some trains) which dishes out mediocre stuff. Each railway station also has these cute hawkers selling their wares, which is also another proposition! But the Indians always relish home cooked food and generally one finds families carrying Food enough to feed their family for 3 to 4 meals!( India is Huge and it takes some time reach the destinations). This time I am stepping into virgin territory and writing on How to effectively pack food for Train travel. Having traveled extensively within India I guess I am qualified for writing on this. There are many methods of packing home food to last for a day or two.

South Indian Style

This would always be the first style, myself being from the south. We generally pack Rotis, Vegetables along with it, Idlis and the like. The south Indians always use plaintain leaves and this goes with packing food too . But its not as easy as taking a plaintain leaf and stuffing the food in!. Plaintain leaves are somewhat rigid and tend to tear . so first we must show the leaf over a gas flame and wilt it slightly to achieve that malleability. Then we pack the food stuffs in. please note that please pack each dish separately and do not mix the two. Fold the leaf over the food and overlap the other half over it, then fold the sides. Then take some unused paper. generally newspaper and place this into it fold it again and secure with a rubber band.

Pros

Plaintain leaves are very healthy, do make sure to wash it before use. the leaf also imparts a lovely aroma to the food. It is very environmental friendly and easily disposable.

Cons

Some people might be averse to plaintain leaves . and that's about the only negative point for this style of packing.

Steel Jars

I have observed many families bring amazing quantities of food in stainless steel Jars. Stainless steel is widely used in India and is not uncommon too. This is also a very good style of packing food. There is no need to explain how to pack into jars!

• Pros

Food is intact and doesn't generally leak out . Its also easy to use . Quite a neat and Healthy way too .

Cons

Steel Jars are quite heavy and bulky and tend to add to the already full baggage. One also need to clean the same otherwise it can be used as an effective anesthetic in operations. It is not disposable . its not averse to the environment directly though.

Plastic Jars and Bags

This is quite commonly used . I have also seen some families use used Milk Bags( ugh!) in packing food. Plastic Jars are also used aplently to store pickles and Chutneys and the like.

Pros

There simply aren?t any Pros other than that they are easy to carry and can be disposed off .

Cons

Plastics are not good for health? they impart bad odor and are unhealthy .

New age Packing

Foil is in! we can use foil wraps for sandwiches and rotis. There are also many Foil and cardboard containers. the ones they pack hotel food in . available freely in the market .These are quite light and easy to use.

• Pros

Light weight, easy to carry, easy to dispose and dosent degrade the food stored within.

Cons

Not that I can think off .

Satya's Tips on Packing

• Always pack food separately for the number of people in  the family so that it is easier to serve in the ever moving train.

-Mark all the packets as to what they contain by inscribing over it with a pen or marker to make sure you don?t search around or distribute wrong packets around.

-Always prepare food intelligently making sure the same wont go bad, take the weather and the duration of the travel. Tend to take dry foodstuffs.

-Take plenty of boiled or Mineral Water.

Satya's Appeal

DO NOT WASTE FOOD, REMEMBER THAT THE SAME FOOD CAN SAVE MILLIONS!

AVOID USING PLASTIC, PLASTICS DEGRADE THE ENVIRONMENT AND CANNOT BE DISPOSED!

BE CLEAN AND KEEP THE ENVIRONMENT CLEAN!