Culinary dish formed of palm leaf and removable cover

Abstract

The dish is formed by pressing a palm leaf to form a generally concave dish with a floor surrounded by sides extending to an upper edge. A rim extends laterally from this upper edge, formed as a unit with the floor and sides of the dish. A lid is provided which has a top surface with side walls extending down to a perimeter latch. This perimeter latch engages the dish, such as by snapping onto the rim. In one embodiment the perimeter latch extends downwardly from other portions of the lid and has at least one indentation which extends inwardly thereon to provide an upper recess above the indentation which is sized to receive a tip of the rim. A height of the upper recess is oversized relative to a thickness of the tip of the rim to accommodate some variation in dish thickness and some degree of dish warping.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 : A palm leaf dish, comprising in combination:
 a mass of pressed palm leaf material formed into a generally concave shape with a substantially constant thickness between an upper surface and a lower surface;   said mass including a floor and sides extending up from said floor to an upper edge;   a rim at said upper edge of said sides, said rim extending laterally from said upper edge to a tip of said rim; and   an at least partially transparent lid having a perimeter sized to fit upon said rim of said mass of pressed palm leaf material.   
     
     
         2 : The dish of  claim 1  wherein said lid includes side walls at a perimeter thereof with a step at a lower portion of said side walls, said step extending more horizontally than vertically, and with a skirt extending downward from said step, said skirt extending more vertically than horizontally. 
     
     
         3 : The dish of  claim 2  wherein said lid includes a substantially flat top surface above said side walls. 
     
     
         4 : The dish of  claim 2  wherein said step extends substantially horizontally. 
     
     
         5 : The dish of  claim 4  wherein said skirt is sized to reside outboard of said rim of said mass of pressed palm leaf, with said step of said lid resting upon said rim. 
     
     
         6 : The dish of  claim 5  wherein said skirt includes a plurality of indentations extending inwardly therefrom, said indentations capturing said rim between said indentations and said step, for holding said lid to said mass of pressed palm leaf material. 
     
     
         7 : The dish of  claim 1  wherein said lid is formed of biodegradable material. 
     
     
         8 : The dish of  claim 7  wherein said lid is formed of material which is compostable. 
     
     
         9 : The dish of  claim 8  wherein said lid is formed at least partially of polylactic acid. 
     
     
         10 : The dish of  claim 9  wherein said lid is formed at least partially of cornstarch. 
     
     
         11 : A method for enclosing a food item upon a pressed palm leaf dish, the dish having a mass of pressed palm leaf material formed into a generally concave shape with a substantially constant thickness between an upper surface and a lower surface, the mass of pressed palm leaf material including a floor and sides extending up from the floor to an upper edge, and a rim at the upper edge of the sides, the rim extending laterally from the upper edge to a tip of the rim, the method including the steps of:
 locating a food item upon the dish; and   placing a lid upon the dish and over the food item, the lid being at least partially transparent for viewing the food item through the lid, and the lid having a perimeter sized to fit upon the rim of the pressed palm leaf dish.   
     
     
         12 : The method of  claim 11  including a further step of indexing the lid in a position completely overlaying the dish by having the lid include a skirt extending at least partially vertically downwardly from a perimeter of the lid and sized to be outboard of the rim of the dish. 
     
     
         13 : The method of  claim 12  wherein said placing step includes the lid having indentations extending inwardly from the skirt. 
     
     
         14 : The method of  claim 13  wherein said placing step includes locating the indentations beneath the rim of the dish to hold the lid to the dish in a removable fashion. 
     
     
         15 : The method of  claim 12  wherein said placing step includes the lid having a step between the side wall and the skirt, said step extending more horizontally than vertically, and with the step resting upon a top side of the rim of the dish. 
     
     
         16 : The method of  claim 15  wherein said placing step includes said step extending substantially horizontally. 
     
     
         17 : The method of  claim 16  wherein said placing step includes the lid having a top surface which is substantially flat. 
     
     
         18 : The method of  claim 11  including the further step of recycling the lid and dish together by placing the lid and dish in a landfill and allowing the lid and dish to decompose through natural biodegrading processes. 
     
     
         19 : The method of  claim 18  wherein said placing step includes the lid being formed at least partially of polylactic acid. 
     
     
         20 : The method of  claim 19  wherein said placing step includes the lid formed at least partially of cornstarch.