Regional cuisine marks Idul Fitri celebrations

By Wirasti Wiryono

JAKARTA (JP): For Idul Fitri this year, food expert Rudy Choiruddin offers his own perspective of the country's cuisine, with its astounding variety of rich flavors and textures from the various regions.

Rudy, host of the Selera Nusantara (Archipelagic Taste) television show on RCTI, proves there is more than the ubiquitous ketupat (compressed rice cakes wrapped in palm leaves) served throughout the country and the nationally known dishes of opor ayam (chicken in coconut gravy and spices), sambal goreng (chicken livers simmered in red chilies), telur pindang (marbled egg), stir-fried green beans and baby corn, shrimp wafers, emping (crisps) and powdered beans as condiments.

Spicy curried beef or goat (Kare Daging, kambing) with roti jala (lacy pancakes) is served on North Sumatran tables during Lebaran, along with Ayam Pangupa (spicy chicken) served with ketupat.

The sour, spicy beef dish Pangek Daging Asam Pedas graces the tables of Padang, West Sumatra, as well as rendang (curried beef), grilled chicken and sayur nangka (stewed young jackfruit).

In Palembang, South Sumatra, Kare Sayur (curried vegetables), Kare Kambing (curried goat) and Kue Lapanjam, a very sweet cake steamed for eight hours, are featured while Lampung serves Malbi Daging, similar to rendang and Gulai Taboh, curried vegetables.

Although Rudy was unable to provide Jakartan dishes for Lebaran, there is onde-onde (round cakes as large as golf balls studded with sesame seeds and filled with sweet mung bean paste) as well the very sweet custard and meringue Kue Ruwok dessert, which is guaranteed to sate anyone's sweet tooth.

Java presents dishes from its various cities, including Ayam Bacem of Yogyakarta and sweet Kue Cucur pancakes, alongside chicken satay, sambal godok cabe hijau (stew of beans, tempeh, beef and quail eggs), marbled eggs and shrimp wafers.

Kare Kepiting (Curried Crabs) of East Java and Surabaya's sweet cakes Perut Ayam as well as Soto Kediri are among the dishes on offer.

Rudy says traditional Lebaran dishes from Maluku and Sulawesi islands are not available as their inhabitants are mostly non- Moslem.

But that is not the case in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, where ketupat gandungan (cooked in coconut milk), curried vegetables, beef, Ayam Cincane and Ayam Masak Blabang (chicken marinated with a combination of fresh and dried red chilies) are found.

Rudy told The Jakarta Post recently that he plans to serve his own version of a Lebaran menu, with a cornucopia of dishes from around the country including Opor Betawi from Jakarta, Sambal Goreng from Cirebon, West Java, Malbi from Palembang, Telur Petis Lading from East Java, chicken satay from Banjarmasin, and Gulai Taboh of Lampung, with finely ground dried shrimp, beans and coconut as the condiments.

Meanwhile, bakery owner and food expert William Wongso voiced alarm about the decline in popularity of Indonesian food.

William, saddened by Indonesian food being underpromoted and disgusted by it being compared to Malaysian food abroad, stressed the importance of concerted efforts to set clear, consistent food standards, strong management, formal training of foreign and local chefs and accurate information campaigns.

He voiced concern about the lack of awareness of Indonesian food among the younger generation who found Western food more appealing and also, perhaps due to being exposed to Western food during overseas study, found dishes like rawon (black nut soup) dirty and unappealing.

The psychological affects brought on by foreign franchises' marketing campaigns, especially with the impact of television, can sideline Indonesian food right down to the rural areas, he said.

In addition, William said that unlike fashion and cars, the culinary arts in Indonesia are not glamorous.

"Aside from religious differences where Moslems cannot eat pork and Hindus cannot eat beef, it's very difficult to prompt a Sumatran to eat the Central Java dish gudeg (stewed young jackfruit) and vice versa because they are not used to the taste," William said.

He said measures involving the government and the public must be taken together with a long-term strategy, lasting as long as 35 years, to preserve Indonesia's culinary heritage.

He cited the case of France as the preeminent land of gastronomy, where an awareness campaign was launched in 1989 to counteract the onslaught of fast-food. The campaign was mainly aimed at the younger generation and involved a revised curriculum in culinary schools to maintain traditional French cuisine.

William called for strong and coordinated public relations efforts to instill a sense of pride and strong awareness among Indonesians about their culinary heritage on aspects to generate cross-tasting, cross-appreciation.

Indonesian food, dwarfed by the proliferation of Chinese, Indian, Thai and Vietnamese food abroad, requires promotional cooperation with Australia to access the United States, Japan and Europe, he said.