Indonesian take-out outlets, minimarkets are Dutch treats

By Thor Kerr

THE HAGUE (JP): It is freezing, overcast and not a palm tree is in sight, but Indonesian food is being served in just about every town in the Netherlands.

The quarter of a million Indonesians who immigrated here after Indonesia's independence have created a legacy of popular restaurants, take-out outlets and Indonesian minimarkets.

There are Indonesian restaurant chains such as Sarinah's, where waiters in batik uniforms serve rendang (spicy meat and coconut), gado-gado (steamed vegetables with peanut sauce) and even rijsttafel as fast foods. And then there are the expensive restaurants like the Garoeda in The Hague, where waiters in Javanese outfits totter around politely in a colonial setting.

But many of these restaurants are dishing up food that tastes strangely un-Indonesian. Restaurants, often run by second- generation Dutch Indonesians, are tending to cater for plain Dutch tastes rather than the spice-loving Indonesian tongue.

Far more reliable and cheaper than many of these restaurants are the informal rantang catering services which are mainly patronized by Indonesian students. This type of catering is named after the cylindrical rantang containers used by Indonesians to carry prepared meals.

One Delft-based student, Arum Kana, buys Indonesian food five times a week from a rantang service run by a fellow student's wife. For six guilders (US$3) a day, she receives two meals of three dishes. And she says they are delicious.

"It's better than in the Indonesian restaurants, of course, because the restaurants here cater for the Dutch taste. This is really original and hot," Arum told The Jakarta Post last week.

Arum said that rantang catering is "common among Indonesian groups, especially the (Indonesian) students".

"The students are mostly single men who are not used to cooking and whose wives still live in Indonesia. They don't have time to cook, so, the service is quite good for them," she said.

More than 360 Indonesian students and trainees are registered with the Indonesian Embassy as living in the Netherlands. According to embassy employee Supriyono, about 250 of these are students.

Good Indonesian food can also be found in restaurants specializing in provincial dishes.

The Dayang restaurant in The Hague has built up an excellent reputation with South Sumatra favorites such as empek-empek and otak-otak, which are both fish- and flour-based dishes.

Dayang's owner, Ibu Evi, said she "cooks for a hobby" and "to promote Lampung", her hometown. Her restaurant even looks like a typical Sumatran warung (food stall), that is if you can ignore the microwave and sparkling-clean kitchen and dining area.

Crates of Teh Botol (bottled sweetened tea) and cartons of ABC fruit syrups sit on the warung's glass counter, which contains bowls of rendang, tumis taoge (stir-fried bean sprouts) and chicken curry. And peering over the counter are a couple of smiling Indonesian faces. Just like back home.

About 40 percent of Dayang's customers are Indonesian, mainly students, housewives and embassy staff. Of the other 60 percent, Ibu Evi said: "Some have been to Indonesia and others, who want to go to Indonesia, come here looking for information."

Evi loves her homeland and if it were not for her Indonesian husband living here, she would return to Lampung, which she left seven years ago after marrying. Her love for Indonesia is reflected in her food, which is made largely from imported ingredients.

"All the Indonesian ingredients can be bought here," she said.

She buys drinks from an importer in Amsterdam and spices and other ingredients from a local Asian groceries wholesaler.

The results show. The Dayang's dishes are authentic and have not been compromised by plainer Dutch tastes. It boasts a busy trade despite there being at least a dozen other Indonesian restaurants in downtown The Hague.

"The Dutch like hot food and they eat empek-empek," said Evi. "If they are looking for empek-empek, they come to Dayang."

More worrying than a demand shortage for Evi is the surprise thrice-yearly visit by the health inspector, something unheard of at a warung in Indonesia.

Health inspectors check for cleanness, bacteria and the refrigeration temperature of food. They are also likely to take away a serve of rendang or chicken curry for laboratory testing.

The Dayang, like other Indonesian restaurants in the Netherlands, has to rely on refrigeration rather than spices to keep away bacteria, so, its dishes are reheated in a microwave oven, which makes everything soggy.

This is a necessary evil given the tough Dutch health standards.

"There are fines, and if things are bad, a restaurant can be closed," said Evi.

Residents here can avoid soggy Indonesian dishes by getting take-out from a good restaurant and reheating it on a stove at home. If they are smart, they will hunt for an ibu with a rantang service.

The really adventurous can always make a trip to an Indonesian minimarket, where they can get anything from coconuts to bean curd to good old-fashioned Indomie.