Light (weight) lunch?

[Jeff Crawley]

A friend is selling his campervan and, while having a sort out, came across some Orikaso plates and bowls - think origami but with thin plastic instead of paper - and kindly gave me an unopened set.
You get two dishes, two bowls and two mugs in an envelope 25 x 25 x 1cms.

This


turns into this



while this



becomes this



and finally this



ends up like this



While the "mug" is an embarrassment but could form a useful after dinner entertainment feature - "Can you form this flat sheet of plastic into anything resembling a useful utensil?" - the dish and bowl might have potential.

Each will hold 500ml of liquid - not a good measure for food I know but for comparisons sake . . . the dish weighs 40gms and the bowl 45. They are less than 1mm thick very flexible and easy to wash. The dish, in flattened out form, makes for a decent cutting/food preparation board (I'm told)

Now the downside - research tells me the company that made them went out of business but they can still be found on the dark-Web (eBay) at silly prices. There's a guy in the UK who sells them at £1.99 a set (two of everything) plus postage. Or there's a company called Fozzils who make pretty much the same thing but at a vastly higher price but you can get individual pieces. There's also a company that make a similar dish but as a dog bowl - best not go there!

I wondered how durable they are, would repeated folding and unfolding weaken them, but Derek tells me he bought 4 sets about 10 years ago and he's still using the original set!

So if you fancy fine dining on the Camino and are worried in case the butler might chip the bone china you may wish to look into it if only as a conversation starter . . . "I'll just fold myself a bowl and shall join you for luncheon . . "

 

[CdnDreamer]

I wonder why the company went out of business...

 

[Jeff Crawley]

I wonder why the company went out of business...

I understand it was basically a young designer who moved on to other projects. Not sure whether Fozzils bought the rights or simply cloned the idea. From the reviews I've seen there are two camps: "Brilliant idea!" or "What tomfoolery is this?" - I'm undecided but they're fun to play with (except that mug!)

 

[pelerine]

Will you use your new equipment, Jeff?

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Jeff, I see why you were given a set of those dishes for free.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Jeff, I see why you were given a set of those dishes for free.

TWO sets so 4 mugs, 4 bowls and 4 plates! It's almost like setting up home for the first time!

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Will you use your new equipment, Jeff?

In the interest of science I did just that at lunchtime today (did not, however, precede it with an 8km hike wearing a backpack).
Oddly the two sets I've been given are different. The dish in the red set has KAM snaps to hold the corners together rather than folding tabs and the red bowl is smaller than the blue so they can nest (when constructed - no problem when flat!). The mugs are equally useless in either colour.
I filled the red bowl with a chunky vegetable soup. It was a bit warm to hold so put it inside the blue bowl - insulation! If it had been really hot I could have put a paper towel between (old air hostess trick - the trick not the air hostess). It was fine, very stable on a flat surface and easy to wash. I notice that, once you unclip it, it retains a dish shape so you could actually use it as a shallow plate.
Daughter No1 is down for the weekend - I might just serve up dinner on them and sit back waiting for the
and the "You are SO embarrassing!" that follows.
Would I take them on a Camino? One of the bowls probably, maybe even the blue plate as well but they'll certainly find a home in my campervan - might even find a use for the mugs as flowerpots

 

[Camino Chrissy]

TWO sets so 4 mugs, 4 bowls and 4 plates! It's almost like setting up home for the first time!

It was a very interesting thtead, Jeff...and you received a double helping of Free!