A millon uses! almost

Today my boss and i were discussing more sustainable containment options for acai bowls. they've tried other containers than the unfortunate styrofoam bowls, but they either fell apart, or let the acai melt to quickly. at the other location they have reusable bowls for people who want to eat in the shop. but we are going to start a B.Y.O.B. "Bring your own bowl" policy. people are welcome to bring their own bowls (if they are large enough) and we may even start giving a discount for people to do this.

anyway, during this conversation about containers i mentioned the pressed bamboo husk plates. My boss then proceeded to tell me about all they ways they use bamboo in Taiwan. (he moved to Hawaii 15 years ago, but is from Taiwan) they have many different varieties of bamboo there and of course eat bamboo shoots. but i also told me about an neat cooking method using bamboo. the giant type (is it Moso? that['s the biggest bamboo i've heard of.) they isolate a segment of the bamboo, with is still closed on both ends. they carve a lid into the side of the tube ( i imagine this is like opening a jack o' lantern :D ) and they rice and water are put inside and the bamboo is resealed and put on a fire.. the rice cooks inside and it imbued with the scent and flavor of the bamboo! id never heard of this before but it is interesting! i guess after you eat you can just put the bamboo back in the fire and burn it.

before there was fastfood style disposable chopsticks, families had to bring their chopsticks from home and back when they ate out. so inside they would cut some of the copious young bamboo and split it into sticks to eat with. They are clean and bamboo had no poisons or anything so they are safe. surprisingly, he told me they used bamboo in the bedding to keep cool in hot weather. i'm not entirely sure how it works, but the bamboo is used as a mat on top of the bed? so it is a little hard, but cooling. i dont know if it is the leaves of small grass or hard canes. same with pillows, stuffed with some part of the bamboo that stays nice and cool. other wise the canes are also made into light, sturdy chairs.


on the flip side of cultural education, my boss was surprised to hear that my mom would give use raw carrots alongside dinner. " you like carrots? do you eat them cooked or steamed? raw?!"