Is it Padang, or Java?

Is it Padang, or Java?

PADANG, West Sumatra (JP): Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave declined when a Sedona Bumi Minang Hotel waiter offered to him a plate of a brown-colored delicacy called serikaya during a visit there on Saturday.

Instead, the former head of protocol of the Presidential Palace asked for information about the dish. A number of people told him it was a specialty of the Minang people of West Sumatra.

Joop insisted that it was not, saying that he had once tasted the same dish, though it was colored differently, at the palace in Jakarta. For support, the minister called a chef he had brought with him from Jakarta.

The chef, however, said the dish was indeed a specialty of Minang, Antara reported.

"What's it made of then?" the obviously displeased minister demanded.

"Gula Jawa (Javanese sugar), Sir," said someone, using the local name for palm sugar. (swe)