English 
Nederlands 
Doggie bags allow you to extend a dining experience even after your restaurant visit, while also helping cut down on food waste and saving you some time in the kitchen later on.
The tradition began in Rome during the sixth century B.C. Banquet goers would wrap up extra food in a napkin to signal to their host just how much they enjoyed the meal. The name doggy bag comes from the States where in world war II people were forced to give their pets the leftover scraps.
I learned to ask for my doggy bag when I lived in the States. There it is common practice. Every time I went to a restaurant over there, waiters asked me if I wanted my leftovers wrapped up. This saved me the slight embarrassment of asking myself.
Nowadays in Belgium, I ask – without any shame – for my doggy bag. I see it as saving food that otherwise would be thrown away. So it’s my contribution to the zero food waste movement. And I have a great lunch the day after.
Tip for today
Don’t be shy about asking for a doggy bag: you deserve a round of applause!
What name should we give it in Belgium?
While the Americans call them doggy bags, that does not work in Flanders. So Test-Aankoop launched a competition to find a name in Dutch.
People came up with all sorts of suggestions, like:
- kliekjesdoos – leftovers box,
- nagenieter – a play on the word nagenieten (to reminisce),
- verspil-me-nietje – don’t waste me.
I thought the proposal overdoos was brilliant until I realised the potential for confusion.
In the end, Test-Aankoop decided that the word restorestje said it best.