Indonesian food still unknown in U.S.

By Lily Tumbelaka

NEW YORK (JP): It is called the culinary embassy of the world.

And it is true. For Indonesians living in New York, it is always a special privilege to eat Indonesian food, and usually it is at the embassy or consulate one can eat ethnic dishes, especially at Ramadhan, the Muslim holiday for the end of fasting.

This is when ethnic dishes are served. And for those of us who do not have any other occasion, it is the opportunity in a lifetime to eat ethnic food.

Although people forget their heritage abroad, when it comes to the stomach or tongue, they cannot forget the food they ate when they were young. It is strange but true. Some Indonesians who have lived abroad for many years might have forgotten so many aspects of Indonesian life, but when it comes to eating Indonesian food again, they become real Indonesians.

It is a sad fact, though, that Indonesian cuisine - like many other aspects of Indonesian culture - is quite unknown to the American public. Compared to other cuisines like Japanese, Chinese and Korean, Indonesian food still has a long way to go in its appeal to the American public. With the exception of a few Americans who have lived in Indonesia, a question asked upon the mention of Indonesian cuisine is: what is that?

To compete with Japanese, Chinese and Korean food must be quite difficult. The strange thing, however, is that lately Thai cuisine, which does not seem to differ that much with Indonesian food, has become rather popular with the American public, while Indonesian food still remains an enigma.

When asked about this phenomenon, a public relations expert explained it was a question of intensifying the marketing of Indonesian food.

There were some eating places in New York where Indonesian food was sold, like the Ramayana and Nusantara restaurants. Unfortunately, they are not around anymore.

Nusantara Restaurant was located on 44th street in Manhattan, close to Grand Central Station. It was managed by the Oasis restaurant in Jakarta.

When it was opened in January 1988, it immediately attracted a lot of media attention.

"At last a decent Indonesian restaurant in the city," wrote the 1990 Zagat New York City restaurant survey.

The Big Apple, as the city is affectionately called, boasts of being first in many fields. It is often called the capital of the world. Some say it is the financial heartthrob of the world and it has many other nicknames, too, like the gateway to America, and the city that never sleeps. To a few disillusioned souls it can also be the crime capital of the world. Be that as it may, to most Americans and foreign visitors alike, the city is first and foremost as the gourmet capital of the world because it is here that they can find food from well-nigh every corner of the world, all assembled here. It isn't actually that surprising. Its beckoning shores have attracted people from practically every country who took with them their own culinary traditions, and it can only be expected that the city mirrors this multinational culinary aspect.

Indeed, ethnic eating places abound almost anywhere in the city. Next to the usual European/Continental restaurants, there is a multitude of places, serving food from as far away as Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

There are also street vendors, selling food from countries as divergent as Trinidad, Afghanistan, Mexico, Egypt, Jamaica and Turkey. You name the food and somewhere in the city there is somebody selling it and someone eating it.

No better proof of this is there than at the Annual International Festival, which is held at one of the city's main thoroughfares and attracts thousands of visitors each summer.

However, Indonesia, being the fourth most populous nation on Earth -- a fact most Americans do not know and most do not really believe -- is not represented here, which is unbelievable but true!

The Nusantara Restaurant did stand out as one of the most eye- catching eating places in the city, especially in regard to the traditional Indonesian art decorations.

Elegant, stylish, exquisite, serene, and sumptuously beautiful, were words used by some of New York's food critics in describing the restaurant.

The descriptions offered by the city's usually outspoken food critics came about when they observed the restaurant's wonderful decorations. The restaurant housed carved wooden screens, ancient doors, mystical animal figures, intricate temple doors, mahogany portals, colorful batik and ikat, shadow puppets, ancestral wood carvings, regal chandeliers and many more objects of authentic Indonesian art, from what a local magazine called the "Islands east of Suez".

And this is the problem of the Indonesian culinary experience. Too much importance goes into detail. The most important part is the food and cost, because Americans are not only rich but thrifty.

To be sure, there are actually a few places where they sell Indonesian food, but it is usually done by Americans who have lived in Indonesia sometime ago.