Tupperware return label: "Always comes back with something in it"

For most of my life, I considered myself well versed in the basics of Tupperware's comeback. They had to be cleaned and of course they had to be returned. Then, last year, after the birth of my son, a half-Korean friend kindly offered me homemade meals in Tupperware. When I returned her containers, I learned that in Korean culture, it is customary to return Tupperware that was originally given with food, full and not empty. She wasn't offended but I was mortified, and the idea of ​​returning full Tupperware stuck with me. I loved it.

Karima-Chloe Hazim, founder of Sydney-based Lebanese cooking school Sunday Kitchen, has been flipping Tupperware with food since high school. "I would never give someone back their empty Tupperware," she says. type=" model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement" class="dcr-1mfia18"/>

Tupperware flipping is something Hazim learned from watching his mother, as well as other other members of his community. "It's very common, very Lebanese," says Hazim. It is also something that Hazim practices with people outside the Lebanese community. “My neighbor is a 92 year old Italian. I would bring him homemade Lebanese pastries and cookies and he would always turn the container over with lemons, tomatoes from the garden or fresh herbs from the garden,” she says.

The practice began to take hold in his workplace as well. “I had borrowed a Tupperware from a co-worker…and returned it with some Lebanese sweets we had left at a family reunion. Another colleague loved the sweets so she took it home and returned it a few days later with Macedonian sweets,” she says.

“ This Tupperware stayed at our workplace and we all took turns bringing it home and bringing it back with food to share. The original owner of the Tupperware ended up leaving but her Tupperware remained, just like our tradition for a few years. inline" data-spacefinder-type="model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement" class="dcr-10khgmf">

So what are the acceptable Tupperware fillers? According to Hazim, this may vary depending on who you are returning to and the size of the Tupperware. If you are giving back to someone you don't know well or are not related to, Hazim recommends buying something. "If [the container] was small, maybe a bag of chocolate covered nuts. If it's a big Tupperware, I'd buy good sourdough bread and maybe some butter,” she says. For someone you know well, the approach may be more personal. "If it was family, or a close friend, I would keep it...