JP\/17\/PUASA<\/p>\n
40 years of breaking the fast at Medan's grand mosque
\n
\nApriadi Gunawan
\nThe Jakarta Post\/Medan
\n
\nZamilah was panting as she hurried, bowl in hand, to a side yard
\nat Medan's Al Mahsum Grand Mosque. Still in her nurse's uniform,
\nthe woman was making her way to where the bubur sop, or
\ntraditional soup-flavored porridge, was being cooked.<\/p>\n
The woman wasted no time in finding the man in charge: \"Pak,
\ncould you give me some bubur sop for the breaking of the fast?\"<\/p>\n
The man cooking the porridge turned to her and replied,
\n\"Certainly, but it's not ready yet. You'll have to wait for a
\nminute.\"<\/p>\n
Zamilah did not mind having to wait among the growing crowd to
\nget a bowl of bubur sop, which the 35-year-old nurse said was one
\nof her favorite foods but one that she could only find during
\nRamadhan.<\/p>\n
\"I have never had bubur sop to break the fast. But I have
\nheard a lot of people talk about the bubur sop served by the
\nmosque for breaking the fast,\" said Zamilah.<\/p>\n
After filling her bowl, Zamilah left for home, saying: \"Praise
\nGod, I have what I want to break my fast.\"<\/p>\n
Hamdan, the mosque's bubur sop cook, said the dish was a
\nmosque specialty for breaking the fast during Ramadhan at Al
\nMahsum or at home. He said anyone who was fasting could stop by
\nthe mosque and get a free bowl of bubur sop.<\/p>\n
\"This has been a unique breaking of the fast tradition at the
\ngrand mosque for 40 years, since 1965. The tradition of this
\nporridge feast is preserved because the people of Medan like it,\"
\nHamdan told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
The 33-year-old Hamdan said people had been breaking the fast
\ntogether at the mosque since 1906, when the sultan of Deli,
\nMahmud Ar Rasyid, began the tradition. But the porridge served at
\nthe time was a hot and spicy dish, not the bubur sop.<\/p>\n
At the time, the porridge was cooked at the sultan's court
\nbefore being delivered to the mosque. Because the royal recipe
\nrequired a lot of spices that are now difficult to find and took
\na long time to prepare, bubur sop was eventually introduced,
\nHamdan said.<\/p>\n
\"We replaced the hot specialty with this new blend. Thank God
\nthe tradition has survived and the people still enjoy it,\" said
\nHamdan, who has been the grand mosque's Ramadhan chief cook for
\n16 years.<\/p>\n
The cooks have inherited all of the traditions and skills of
\ntheir predecessors, passed down through the years from the early
\nsultanate period. And the food is not cooked in just any old pot
\nor pan.<\/p>\n
\"We cook this porridge in copper pots that once belonged to
\nthe sultan of Deli,\" said Hamdan. Each vessel has the capacity to
\nhold about 400 servings.<\/p>\n
According to him, the 800 total servings of bubur sop require
\nabout eight kilograms of meat, 20 kilograms of rice and 10
\nkilograms of vegetables including carrots and potatoes.<\/p>\n
It takes about three hours to prepare the dish, starting with
\npreparing the spices and cooking the meat. Then the rice is
\nturned into porridge, before the vegetables are stirred in. The
\nspices used in the dish are ginger, pepper, salt, cinnamon, leeks
\nand fried onions.<\/p>\n
Asked about where the money comes from for the free porridge,
\nHamdan said donations covered the costs. He said that from the
\nfirst day to the 27th day of Ramadhan, it cost at least Rp 40
\nmillion to prepare the bubur sop.<\/p>\n
Hamdan said the free porridge ended on the 27th day of
\nRamadhan, because after that mosque personnel would be busy
\nhandling the distribution of zakat fitrah, or donations for the
\npoor.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp17puasa-1447899208",
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