Ayam Taliwang thriving despite fast-food boom

Ayam Taliwang thriving despite fast-food boom

Wahyuni Kamah, Contributor, Denpasar, Bali

A visit to Lombok is not complete without eating ayam taliwang
-- fried, grilled or roasted chicken, a popular local cuisine.

In Mataram, the capital of West Nusa Tenggara province, there
are a number of restaurants that call themselves ayam taliwang
restaurants, or those that include the special dish on their
menus. However, the most popular restaurant there is Rumah Makan
Taliwang I that specializes in ayam taliwang and is known for its
authentic taste.

Sandwiched between the shops in Jl. A.A. Gede Ngurah,
Cakranegara, Lombok, Rumah Makan Ayam Taliwang I has served its
loyal customers since 1968. Dinner is the busiest time and if you
are a little late, the menus are likely to have run out.

Rumah Makan Ayam Taliwang I was the first restaurant in
Mataram. It was called Ayam Taliwang because the founders, the
late H.A. Murad and his wife, Salmah, came from Kampung Karang
Taliwang, Cakranegara on Lombok island.

Despite the growing presence of fast-food chicken restaurants
in Mataram, Alwi, Murad's son who runs the restaurant business,
doesn't worry about his competitors.

Unlike fast-food outlets or other ayam taliwang restaurants,
Rumah Makan Ayam Taliwang I only serves ayam kampung (local free-
range chicken) and uses no preservatives.

Ayam kampung, indeed, has a different taste. Its flesh is more
delicious and sweeter than broiler chicken though you must really
use your teeth since it is not as tender. Ayam kampung is leaner
and smaller than the broiler chicken. So if you are really
hungry, one portion of ayam taliwang may not be enough.

The restaurant also accepts orders from outside Mataram. Some
loyal restaurant-goers order the food to take with them as far
away as Malaysia and China. No additives are used in restaurant
food and all ingredients used to make the accompanying dishes
such as pelecing kangkung (kangkung drizzled with tangy tomato
sambal) and beberok terong (cooked eggplant with fresh chopped
onion and chili sauce), are fresh.

The dishes available in Ayam Taliwang I restaurant, such as
ayam taliwang, rawon (dark beef soup), kare (curry), sop kikil ,
pelecing kangkung and beberok terong are very hot and spicy.

Ayam taliwang is served either roasted or fried. Ayam pelecing
(spicy grilled chicken) is roasted or fried, while ayam plalah is
cooked in chilli sauce and thick coconut milk. Ayam pelecing is
the hottest of the lot as the chicken is showered with hot chilli
sauce.

If you are not used to hot and spicy cuisine, you should be
careful because this food will burn your tongue and make you
perspire. Ayam taliwang is usually served with pelecing kangkung
or beberok terong and both are very hot.

One portion of roast or grilled chicken costs Rp 15,000 (US$
1.50).

Despite the prices, which are a bit steep for such
restaurants, people keep coming. They are drawn by the delicious
aroma and taste of the authentic dishes at Ayam Taliwang.

Ibu Salmah, Alwi's mother, formulated all the ingredients in
the recipes. The formula has been passed down from one generation
to another.

"Now my wife has learned it from my mother," Alwi said.
According to him, taliwang food is said to have originated from
Sasak kings and nobility.

To make the spices used daily by the restaurant they use five
kilograms of fresh chilli, one kilogram of dried chilli, three
kilograms of cabe rawit (small green chili) and 50 coconuts.

The 75-year-old woman is assisted by Alwi's wife and another
12 staff members in the preparation of the ingredients. In the
morning, the kitchen is busy. Everything is prepared
traditionally. They use a traditional spice grinder instead of a
modern blender to pound the ingredients and use firewood to fuel
the stove to cook the spices.

The spice mixture is cooked in the morning and then brought to
the restaurant before noon. The restaurants use the cooked spices
until night. Alwi said that special dishes that need fresh
ingredients like beberok terong are made as soon as visitors
place an order.