Why is food canned? In the year 1810, the French government was looking for ways to preserve food for their armies. It offered a large cash prize for anyone who could invent a way to preserve food. A sweet maker called Nicolas Appert (left) discovered that if food was cooked inside a jar and then sealed, the food would last for a very long time. He won the prize! However, no-one knew why the food was preserved. It was another 50 years before Louis Pasteur learnt how something called microbes spoilt food over a period of time.
Every kitchen in every home will most likely have at least one can of food. It may be baked beans, or it could be corned beef or spam. We all know that food in a can can last forever, and it’s always wise to keep a few at home just in case: a midnight snack when the fridge is empty; a supermarket closure over Chinese New Year. You know the kind of thing?
Whether or not you like canned food you will certainly be intrigued by a restaurant chain in Japan called Mr Kanso. It has over 40 different outlets, and what do they sell? Canned food! Nothing else!
The first Mr Kanso opened in Osaka in 2002. It’s a very straightforward concept. The customer walks around and looks at the various cans of food on the shelves around the restaurant. They choose which can they want. A member of the restaurant staff opens the can and provides a plastic plate, fork and spoon. Then that’s it. The customer eats straight from the can. Prices for each can of food range from about HK$15 to HK$140.
You may be scratching your head at all this. The reason you are scratching is because at this point you cannot see the attraction of canned food. You are only thinking of baked beans, corned beef and spam. At Mr Kanso, the choice is much, much wider. Each restaurant has over 350 kinds of canned food that you probably have never even dreamt about.
Sea lion curry; bear curry from Hokkaido; walrus curry, and horse meat are just a few of the choices upon Mr Kanso’s shelf. If that all sounds too much for you, there is also French salad – in a can. The restaurant chain owner, Clean Brothers, says that the real pleasure for customers in a Mr Kanso restaurant is not so much the food itself, but being able to look at the variety of different foods packaged in a can.
The real pleasure for Clean Brothers is that as the customer eats directly from the can, there is no need to employ many waiters or kitchen staff. It’s a dream business model! Mr Kanso outlets are now over 20 years old. They must be doing something right.
Here is a little more canned history of tinned food. The story is fascinating!
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