Oyster pail
Encyclopedia
Wax
thumb|right|[[Cetyl palmitate]], a typical wax ester.Wax refers to a class of chemical compounds that are plastic near ambient temperatures. Characteristically, they melt above 45 °C to give a low viscosity liquid. Waxes are insoluble in water but soluble in organic, nonpolar solvents...
ed or plastic coated, paperboard
Paperboard
Paperboard is a thick paper based material. While there is no rigid differentiation between paper and paperboard, paperboard is generally thicker than paper. According to ISO standards, paperboard is a paper with a basis weight above 224 g/m2, but there are exceptions. Paperboard can be single...
container, traditionally with a handle made of solid wire, most commonly currently in use by American Chinese cuisine
American Chinese cuisine
American Chinese cuisine refers to the style of food served by many Chinese restaurants in the United States. This type of cooking typically caters to Western tastes, and differs significantly from the original Chinese cuisine.-History:...
establishments primarily throughout the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, to package hot or cold take-out
Take-out
Take-out or takeout , carry-out , take-away , parcel , or tapau , is food purchased at a...
food. They are not commonly used outside of America, not in Canada or Mexico, though they are quite common in some European countries like Germany and England. They are rarely seen in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
; where they are found, they are usually not used by restaurants serving Chinese cuisine
Chinese cuisine
Chinese cuisine is any of several styles originating in the regions of China, some of which have become highly popular in other parts of the world – from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa...
.
"Microwave
Microwave oven
A microwave oven is a kitchen appliance that heats food by dielectric heating, using microwave radiation to heat polarized molecules within the food...
-safe" oyster pails (without the metal handle, which can cause arcing in a microwave) are also available.
Uses
The container has the advantage of being inexpensive, durable and fairly leakproof. The top usually includes a tab so that they are self-closing. The folded construction also allows for some escape of steamSteam
Steam is the technical term for water vapor, the gaseous phase of water, which is formed when water boils. In common language it is often used to refer to the visible mist of water droplets formed as this water vapor condenses in the presence of cooler air...
from hot food. If care is used to remove the flaps, and the sides are unfolded, the container can also double as a somewhat flimsy plate. However it is also possible to eat out of the container, a feat that the long reach of chopsticks
Chopsticks
Chopsticks are small, often tapered, sticks used in pairs of equal length as the traditional eating utensils of China and its diaspora, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Northern provinces of Laos, Thailand and Burma. Generally believed to have originated in ancient China, they can also be found in some...
makes possible. It is primarily used in American Chinese cuisine
American Chinese cuisine
American Chinese cuisine refers to the style of food served by many Chinese restaurants in the United States. This type of cooking typically caters to Western tastes, and differs significantly from the original Chinese cuisine.-History:...
- it is practically unknown even in Canadian Chinese cuisine
Canadian Chinese cuisine
Canadian Chinese cuisine is a popular style of cooking exclusive to take-out and dine-in eateries found across Canada. It was the first form of commercially available Chinese food available in Canada. This cooking style was invented by early Cantonese immigrants who adapted traditional Chinese...
, though it has started to spread in some European countries.
History
The paperboard oyster pail was developed in the early 20th century at a time when fresh oysterOyster
The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....
s were more popular, more plentiful, and less expensive than they are at present. Since shucking oysters (removing the raw meat from the shell) takes some amount of skill and can be difficult and dangerous, it was common to have the oyster seller open the oysters so they could be taken home for use in cooked dishes. The oyster pail provided an inexpensive and sanitary way to accomplish this. In the early 20th century oyster pails were also used to hold honey
Honey
Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...
. However, in the mid-20th century, overfishing (and the subsequent rise in price) of oysters left manufacturers with a significant number of unsold oyster pails.
However, after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, there was a huge increase in the United States in interest in prepared foods that could be purchased from restaurants and heated or finished at home. Chinese food proved to be a popular choice, since it was tasty, unusual, fairly inexpensive and traveled well. The oyster pail was quickly adopted for "Chinese take-out
Take-out
Take-out or takeout , carry-out , take-away , parcel , or tapau , is food purchased at a...
." The paperboard pails were to some extent self-insulating
Thermal insulation
Thermal insulation is the reduction of the effects of the various processes of heat transfer between objects in thermal contact or in range of radiative influence. Heat transfer is the transfer of thermal energy between objects of differing temperature...
and could be used for a wide variety of foods: cooked rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
, moist dishes such as egg foo young
Egg foo young
Egg foo young is an omelette dish found in Chinese Indonesian, British and Chinese American Cuisine.The name comes from the Cantonese language. Egg foo young is derived from Fu Yung Egg Slices, an authentic Chinese recipe from Shanghai.- Preparation :...
and sauce
Sauce
In cooking, a sauce is liquid, creaming or semi-solid food served on or used in preparing other foods. Sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to another dish. Sauce is a French word taken from the Latin salsus, meaning salted...
d dishes – though generally unsuitable for hot highly liquid dishes such as soup
Soup
Soup is a generally warm food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water, or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, forming a broth.Traditionally,...
s. Today, the majority of oyster pails are manufactured by the Fold-Pak
Fold-Pak
Fold-Pak is a division of Rock-Tenn with three locations: Fresno, CA, Hazelton, PA, and Columbus, GA. Fold-Pak manufactures Bio-Paks, SmartServ and Fold-Pak - which is commonly used for Chinese and Thai food....
company.
Sizes
In the United States oyster pails are now available in standard sizes and can also serve as self-measuring containers, so that many take-out foods are sold in pintPint
The pint is a unit of volume or capacity that was once used across much of Europe with values varying from state to state from less than half a litre to over one litre. Within continental Europe, the pint was replaced with the metric system during the nineteenth century...
s and quart
Quart
The quart is a unit of volume equal to a quarter of a gallon, two pints, or four cups. Since gallons of various sizes have historically been in use, quarts of various sizes have also existed; see gallon for further discussion. Three of these kinds of quarts remain in current use, all approximately...
s and packed into pails of the appropriate size.