I once went to a fancy-dress party dressed as a Kikkoman soy sauce bottle. I wore black, topped the look off with a jaunty red cap, and poured soy sauce over
everyone’s food all night. The theme was to come as something you love, so of course I immediately thought of fermented soybean sauce. The familiar brand in the iconic little pear-shaped bottle is like part of my extended family: taken for granted, doing its thing, always welcome.

But how much of the connection we feel to various food products and dispensers is testament to the ingenuity of its design?

Kenji Ekuan, who designed the dispenser for Kikkoman in 1961, always said, “Design is a source of life enhancement.”

I actually buy one-litre bottles of my preferred brand, Yamasa, and decant into the Kikkoman. Not just for the genius of the two-way, non-drip pourer, but for that enduring sense of continuity and connection.

It’s a clever brand that can last long enough to achieve iconic status without the constant need for change. Take Bonne Maman jams and conserves, founded in 1971. One look at that cheeky, red-and-white gingham cap and straight sided
jar and I’m in the south of France with a baguette and beret. It must be one of the most recycled jars in the world: very popular, ironically, with at-home marmalade-makers.

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The Ortiz anchovy packet – all blue sea, yellow sky, red wooden fishing boat and triangular white sail – is a work of art I could happily have on my wall.

Likewise, any Spanish can of smoked paprika, especially Los Novios, for the 1950s couple on the label, and La Dalia, with its bloodred flower, so named because the owner’s grandfather proposed to his wife by offering her a dahlia.

The classic Angostura Bitters bottle has been deeply pleasing since 1824, with tiny lettering all over its oversized label detailing ingredients and suggestions for use. (Has anyone ever read it? Me, neither.)

See, also, Bragg Organic Apple Cider vinegar bottles, Mutti tomato-paste tubes and Double Phoenix prawn cracker boxes. New brands are always emerging: the Sriracha bottle will be as iconic to this generation as the Tabasco was to the last.

Be gone, boring packaging haggled over by committee. Given a choice between two similar products, let’s go for the source of life enhancement, not just the sauce.

theemptyplate@goodweekend.com.au