Lampung's snacks: Cultural interchange<\/p>\n
Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post\/Bandarlampung<\/p>\n
Forty-year-old Tuminah served her customers, who were buying
\nsnacks to break the fast, as quickly as she was able.<\/p>\n
From dusk until late evening the food stall on Jl. Sriwijaya
\nnear Saburai Square in Enggal, here was busy.<\/p>\n
The holy month of Ramadhan is indeed a blessing for this
\nresident of Sawah Brebes village, Tanjungkarang Pusat, here
\nwho has run an afternoon snack stall during Ramadhan for the past
\nfive years. Her two high-school age children help in the
\nbusiness.<\/p>\n
\"Income was fairly high in previous years. I could recover my
\nRp 200,000 capital daily, with a net profit of Rp 100,000 to Rp
\n150,000 on average. Now, with capital of Rp 400,000,
\nit took three afternoons to break even. The increased cost of
\nbasic goods has reduced my profit, though business is brisk,\"
\nsaid Tuminah.<\/p>\n
This year, Tuminah's net profit is about Rp 50,000 daily after
\nvarious deductions, including paying her children Rp 7,000 to Rp
\n10,000 a day.<\/p>\n
\"What I earn is enough for Idul Fitri, I'm not thinking beyond
\nthat, while the prices of basic goods are soaring,\" she added.<\/p>\n
She rents her roofed stall for Rp 18,000 a day. A partially
\nroofed stall is Rp 9,000 but that means getting soaked if it
\nrains. Besides which, vendors pay Rp 2,000 to Rp 2,500 each for
\ncleaning services and security.<\/p>\n
Elderly people in the area say centuries ago people had
\ncongregated in the area to buy snacks for breaking the fast.<\/p>\n
\"My parents say it was already a place where Javanese,
\nSumatran and Malay cultures merged, long before the birth of
\nIndonesia,\" said Isbedy Stiawan ZS, a Lampung cultural observer.<\/p>\n
According to Isbedy, the cultural interchange through the
\ntraditional market has enabled ethnic groups in Lampung to learn
\nfrom each other and tolerate differences. That is why Lampung,
\nknown as a mini-Indonesia for its multi-ethnic population, has
\nnever seen any significant conflict.<\/p>\n
\"In the past, Sumatra was indeed under the power of Java's
\nMajapahit kingdom. But after the Nusantara archipelago became
\nIndonesia, the people of Sumatra remained open to the Javanese
\nand settlers from other regions. So it has been up to the
\npresent,\" noted Isbedy.<\/p>\n
When the fasting month arrives, Saburai changes into a
\npeople's food center. On the sidewalks of Jl. Sriwijaya and Jl.
\nHayamwuruk -- the two roads on both sides of Saburai and Merah
\nEnggal squares, Bandarlampung -- tarpaulin roofs span a distance
\nof about 500 meters, under which some 200 food sellers offer
\nsnacks and dishes.<\/p>\n
As the names of the roads suggest -- Sriwijaya (Sumatra) and
\nHayamwuruk (Java) -- the food available there in fact represents
\nthe cultures of Sumatra and Java. Traditional cakes of both
\nislands -- usually hard to find -- will be easily obtained in
\nSaburai during Ramadhan.<\/p>\n
Some of those typical of Lampung in the Saburai market are
\nseruit (chili relish with durian), lapis legit (multi-layered
\nspice cake), lapis ketan (glutinous rice cake), sekubal
\n(glutinous rice cooked in bamboo stems) and srikaya (glutinous
\nrice served with durian relish).<\/p>\n
Palembang also offers its specialties and snacks in the
\nseasonal food center such as pempek (cake made of sago flour and
\nminced fish), otak-otak (smaller fish snack steamed in banana
\nleaves), tekwan (soup with sago-flour fish balls) and dodol (soft
\nfudge).<\/p>\n
Java boasts its nagasari (cake made of rice flour, coconut
\nmilk and bananas steamed in banana leaves), wajik (square dessert
\nof glutinous rice and palm sugar), onde-onde (fried glutinous
\nrice-flour balls filled with sweet bean paste and coated with
\nsesame seeds), klepon (small glutinous rice-flour balls filled
\nwith thick palm sugar syrup and rolled in grated coconut), kolak
\npisang (compote with bananas stewed in coconut milk and palm
\nsugar), jenang cadil (taffy made of glutinous rice, coconut milk
\nand palm sugar) and kolang-kaling (sugar-palm fruits in sugar
\nsyrup).<\/p>\n
Padang's main snack at Saburai is kue talam (rice-flour and
\ncoconut milk cake filled with palm sugar) whereas Banten has
\nbubur lemu (rice flour porridge with palm sugar syrup), jorong,
\njongkong, serabi, pasung and apem putih (all being rice flour
\ncakes).<\/p>\n
The drinks offered are mostly from Central Java's Banyumas and
\nSlawi regencies, including dawet (rice-flour dough blobs in
\ncoconut milk and palm sugar), various cocktails, iced fruits and
\nyoung coconut, iced melon-like timun suri and Banten's kolak
\nradio (compote with different fruits combined).<\/p>\n
Some buyers said nearly all prices of snacks had gone up this
\nyear. An iced cocktail in a plastic bag of a quarter of a kilo,
\nfor instance, is sold at Rp 2,500, while it was only Rp 1,500
\nlast year. Kolak pisang and pudding with selasih (a basil
\nvariety), which last year cost Rp 1,000 to Rp 1,500, are now Rp
\n2,000 to Rp 2,500.<\/p>\n
\"Everything has become more expensive with the fuel price
\nincreases. We would not make any money without raising the prices
\nof our snacks,\" said Sulastri, a vendor of selasih pudding,
\nkolak, nagasari and various other traditional Javanese cakes and
\ndrinks.<\/p>\n
Sulastri acknowledged the higher food prices in the Saburai
\nmarket during this Ramadhan but all sellers had priced their
\nsnacks pretty much the same, with customers still crowding the
\nsnack market as in previous years.<\/p>\n
\"If the price is high and other vendors
\noffer the same thing for less, our customers will abandon us.
\nThere are hundreds of sellers here so customers have a lot of
\nfood and price alternatives to choose from,\" added Sulastri.<\/p>",
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