Why Thai Rice, Cabbage, Apple, Water?

November 6, 2008 8:26 AM

Why do they leave a basket with rice, cabbage, water, and apple outside my favorite Thai restaurant?

I eat lunch at an awesome little Thai place in Cary, NC at least once a week. (Tom Yum Thai by the mall, if you're ever interested!!)

Every day, I see a little red/white checkered basket (the type the put fries in at burger joints) and inside there are 4 dishes. One has a slice of apple, one has some cabbage, one has some white rice, and the last one just has water.

Why?

posted by JakeTimberlake to grab bag (8 comments total)

I've seen this done in various Asian restaurants, and always took it as some sort of offering to their deity.
posted by nitsuj at 8:30 AM on November 6, 2008

The food is there to maintain good relations with the spirits, which Thai people believe live everywhere and in everything.
posted by notjustfoxybrown at 8:57 AM on November 6, 2008

Like others have said, it's a religious offering. In some areas, the food is picked up by local monks, who provide religious blessings in return.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:15 AM on November 6, 2008

I don't know, but my guess is the same asnitsuj's. This just seems an appropriate place and time to relate a recent experience of mine.

Among my many house plants is a Dracaena Warneckii that I've had for many years; it sits in my bedroom window. Recently I purchased a statue of Kwan Yin, and put it on my chest-of-drawers, opposite the window.

I put two small bowls in front of the statue: one with rice, the other water.

The Dracaena Warneckii busted out a whole bunch of incredibly fragrant white blossoms--the first time it's ever done that, in the ten or twelve years I've had it.

Coincidence? Anyway, next time I go to market I'm buying cabbages and apples, that's for sure.
posted by Restless Day at 9:17 AM on November 6, 2008 [3 favorites]

It's to keep the spirits happy and, more importantly, outside.
posted by pompomtom at 1:12 PM on November 6, 2008

Another witness, but I've only spotted the offering one time, early the morning after, on the ground by the side door of the nearby Thai restaurant: a small tray with some food on a plate and, in a nice glass, a drink. Looked like a cocktail with the ice melted, including a maraschino cherry.
posted by Rash at 1:30 PM on November 6, 2008

A lot of Asian cultures do this. I've seen similar offerings in Thai, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Chinese restaurants. There are plenty of animist religions in Asia, and the traditions persisted even among those who converted to Buddhism and Christianity and the like.
posted by truex at 1:38 PM on November 6, 2008

It's to keep the spirits happy and, more importantly, outside.

Dunno: one of my neighborhood Thai places keeps a couple tiny cups of tea and (iirc) a bowl of rice in front of a little Buddha, but it's inside, on the counter near the cash register (and a little note asking patrons not to mess with the tea). Of course, this custom might be from a different tradition than JakeTimberlake's.

I don't think the restaurant owners would be offended if you asked politely about the basket. (And if you posted their answer here to satisfy my curiosity.)
posted by hattifattener at 1:41 PM on November 6, 2008