Betawi old timers yearn for tastes of yore
Betawi old timers yearn for tastes of yore
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
It was a festive Lebaran -- the local name for Idul Fitri -- at
Setu Babakan, a Betawi (native Jakartan) cultural reserve in
Srengseng Sawah, South Jakarta, but many of the elder generation
were longing for the good old days.
"Many types of food aren't found on our dining tables these
days and have been replaced with store-bought cookies or tins of
biscuits. None of us in the neighborhood serve geplak, wajik,
tape uli or carabao meat anymore," said Sahroni, 38.
Sahroni is one of the around 3,000 Betawi people living in
Setu Babakan, many of whom are sad to see that less and less
traditional dishes have been served at Lebaran over the last few
years.
It is a matter of simplicity, according to Ibu Mai. Many
Betawi families now prefer not to make the traditional snacks and
dishes as cooking them is too complicated.
"For example, we must mix all the ingredients of geplak with
our hands for hours while it is still hot in the tray. It also
take a long time to make wajik," Mai, who is in her 60s, told The
Jakarta Post.
Geplak is made from rice flour, palm sugar, and coconut milk
while wajik is made from rice, palm sugar, and shredded coconut.
Tape is made from fermented glutinous rice, while uli is made
from boiled glutinous rice, which has to be pounded until the
rice sticks together.
"It is very complicated and tiring preparing tape and uli, not
to mention the fact that they have to be stored for weeks before
they can be served," said Mai.
Most households in the community now prefer to make simple
traditional cookies, such as kembang goyang, kembang ros, akar
kelapa, and biji ketapang, which all are made from wheat flour,
coconut milk, margarine and sugar, and are all shaped
differently.
Sahroni said that carabao meat was also hard to find at
Lebaran now as nobody slaughtered water buffalo anymore and
instead simply bought beef in the market.
"I tell you, it tastes much better when we use carabao meat,
instead of normal beef, in our dishes," he said.