Jakarta Can Serve as a Showcase to Introduce Nusantara Cuisine

Jakarta can serve as a showcase to introduce the authentic culinary diversity of various Indonesian regions, for instance through Nusantara food festivals, according to a representative of a shopping centre management.

Ciputra Mall Jakarta General Manager Ferry Irianto, met at the opening of the Kampung Legendaris food festival in Jakarta on Wednesday, said Jakarta is a meeting point for various regional cuisines, thus it can become a space to introduce Indonesia’s cultural wealth to the public and tourists.

“Jakarta is famous as a showcase. So, the showcase of all regions can be summarised in Jakarta,” Ferry said.

“We hope that by providing a showcase or giving space to these Nusantara-flavoured cuisines, everything can be introduced more widely to our public and foreign tourists,” he said.

The concept of a food festival, especially if the sellers come from the food’s region of origin, is expected to encourage people to visit that region. This concept simultaneously serves as an effort to introduce regional culture and help expand the market for micro, small and medium culinary enterprises (MSMEs).

Based on his experience curating stalls to participate in food festivals, Ferry found that some business owners felt they did not need to promote their food outside their domicile area.

“They sometimes feel they no longer need to seek fortune elsewhere, but we convince them that if their products are not promoted outside the region, they might be less known nationally,” Ferry said.

The development of cuisine as a tourist attraction is also part of the government’s efforts to develop gastronomic tourism. The Ministry of Tourism, through Wonderful Indonesia Gourmet (WIG), encourages gastronomic development as part of Indonesian tourism.

Ferry hopes that introducing Nusantara cuisine to the younger generation can help preserve it.

“We must introduce it to future generations so it does not disappear,” Ferry said.