Indonesian food still unknown in U.S.

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.