I love these little things. In fact, I’m eating one while I write this.
Most of the major tuna companies (that is to say, two or three brands) make and sell these, which could probably be described as “All-in-One Tuna Lunch Kits,” or something to that effect. Each one comes with a miniature pop-top can of tuna salad, some crackers in an airtight little wrapper, and other items. These might include mayonnaise, relish, a miniature spoon, a miniature napkin, or even a full-sized breath mint. The entire package is usually about 3x6 inches on top, and about an inch tall, easily fitting into whatever you use to carry food around.
What you’re supposed to do is use the tuna and the crackers to have yourself a little tiny tuna sandwich feast. To be honest, until today, I had never tried putting the tuna on the crackers. I’d always eaten the tuna and then the crackers to preserve my breath, and because I assumed that they wouldn’t taste very good together (actually, they do).
Plenty of varieties are available. In addition to plain ol’ tuna, not even properly qualifying as tuna salad, you can get it with standard tuna salad vegetables mixed in, with tomatoes, with albacore tuna, with lemon and spices, and I’m sure other varieties too. If you were a real tuna fan, I’m sure you could eat a different variety every day of the week and manage not to get bored.
These are a great way to deal with lunches if you’re an exceedingly lazy person. You get fish, starch, eggs (in the form of mayo) and vegetables, albeit in miniature proportions. My experience is that it’s about as filling as a basic sandwich, though not as much as an advanced sandwich with lots of fixings. Plus, you’ll feel smart and space-agey as you eat prepackaged food that doesn’t suck.
Personal anecdote time. When I first saw one of these, it was a Bumblebee brand. I remember because the packaging had what looked like a child’s drawing of a happily smiling bee, with the word “fun” written next to it in a crude hand. There was something about the design of this package — the way it looked like it was made by a child who desperately wanted me to try it and be happy — that tugged at my heartstrings in a way that prepackaged lunch kits never have before and never will again.
You can find these at just about any place that would sell canned tuna. They cost about one or two dollars each (about a pound, for my British readers). And hey, I like them. You probably will too.