JP/17/ACEH

JP/17/ACEH

Traditional spicy porridge now a rare Ramadhan treat

Nani Afrida The Jakarta Post/Aceh Besar

Ramadhan is special for the Acehnese, ninety-eight percent of whom are Muslims.

In some of the remote villages of Aceh Besar regency, the villagers usually break their fast with Ie Bu Pedaih (a tradtional Ramadhan dish consisting of spicy porridge.)

Unfortunately, the tradition of preparing this hot, spicy porridge has been disappearing and is still cooked in just a few villages, such as Bung Bak Jok village, some 20 kilometers away from the provincial capital of Banda Aceh.

The dish is made of rice, turmeric, grated coconut and salt; plus 44 kinds of leaves collected from the forest.

These leaves are believed to be able to cure many diseases.

"We collect these leaves ten days before the beginning of the fasting month. Then we dry them and pound the dried leaves into fine powder to be later mixed into the porridge," Tabrani, 37, a resident the village, told The Jakarta Post.

Usually men cook it beside the small mosque in the village beginning at about 1 p.m. after the noon prayer. Firewood is the preferred method of cooking.

"All the villagers cooperate to ensure that there are enough of the ingredients to have enough of it for the entire month," Tabrani added.

The porridge is cooked in a large earthenware pot. The male villagers take turns stirring and mixing it with a mortar made of a galingale stem. The galingale stem helps to bring out the aroma of porridge.

The amount that is cooked in the earthenware pot is enough for all the villagers and usually any visitors who happen to be in the village on any given evening during Ramadhan.

After the isya', the afternoon prayer, the porridge is ready and village children will come with small receptacles, to take some of the porridge home.

"When I was a child, I usually came too early for the porridge and had to wait," said 35-year-old Mahdi, another Bung Bak Jok villager.

In those days, not many children fasted until they were at least 12 years old. So, they were the first to enjoy the porridge. After they were sated, they took enough home for the family to eat later.

"After eating some of the porridge, we would tell the adults how it tasted. We would tell them whether or not more salt should be added or whatever," Mahdi said, while giggling.

In recent years, more and more children take part in the fast, so there are not many children around to eat the porridge before it is time to break the fast, and thus they cannot make suggestions to the cooks.

"Islam has progressed more in recent years in Aceh. Now, even five-year-olds are fasting," Mahdi added.

However, many Bung Bak Jok villagers still believe in the tradition of eating hot, spicy porridge when they break the fast.

"Our parents tell us to break the fast with Ie Bu Pedaih, as the forest leaves will bear witness to God's reward for your fasting," Tabrani explained in a serious tone.

It is really a shame that some Acehnese have forgotten this belief, and the tradition, so it is disappearing now.