Restaurant takes foodies back to days of yore

Maria Endah Hulupi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Thinking about dining out in yesteryear probably brings to mind images of simple food stalls filled with people enjoying simple yet elaborate dishes like nasi bungkus (plain rice with a couple of side dishes and chili, wrapped in a banana leaf).

Just as a picture can revive old memories, ceramic artist F. Widayanto's culinary concept of a small yet artistically designed restaurant will remind people of the flavors of the past.

Surrounded by a lush tropical garden, the gazebo-style restaurant at his Rumah Tanah Baru workshop in Depok is open only during the weekend.

Officially visitors come for a tour of the workshop, but the kitchen staff also prepare some popular old dishes from around the country.

During lunch, visitors will find a variety of interesting tempo-doeloe food on the menu, some of which can be classified as near-extinct traditional dishes such as oseng batang pisang (stir-fried banana stump), pecak jantung pisang (stir-fried banana flower), tumis daun dan bunga pepaya (stir-fried papaya flower and leaves), tempe penyet (deep-fried tempeh with mixed tomato and chili), garang asam (steamed chicken wrapped in banana leaves), sambal combrang (chili made from a type of tropical flower) and sambal merah, sambal ijo (red and green chili).

The food appears to have been carefully selected to match the overall traditional atmosphere of the restaurant and the other structures in the Tanah Baru complex.

But the designer's assistant in charge of the restaurant, Endah, only says that for the menu Widayanto specially chooses dishes with an emphasis on fresh produce commonly (at least in the past) available in the gardens of Indonesian households.

"Like bunga kecombrang, belimbing wuluh, daun mangkokan, melinjo leaves, papaya leaves and flowers are available in the garden. We don't buy such fresh ingredients when we can pick them from the garden," Endah said.

And not only that, to make its tempo-doeloe dishes, the kitchen staff uses exotic ingredients that younger people probably are unfamiliar with, even though they used to be the main ingredients for some of the most popular traditional dishes.

The traditional dishes, focusing mostly on fish and chicken, are cooked in a variety of methods, including deep-frying, stir- frying, boiling or steaming after being wrapped in banana leaf.

Proper timing, Endah says, is important for maintaining the ingredients' natural flavors and colors.

The spices are used generously to bring out the ingredients' optimal flavors without relying on the use of artificial flavor enhancers like monosodium glutamate (msg). No modern kitchen utensils are used to grind the spices, which can only be prepared using a ulekan, or a traditional pestle and mortar.

"That cooking utensil cannot be substituted. Otherwise, the flavor won't be the same," she said.

Though the cooks try to maintain the original flavors by respecting the traditional recipes, some adjustments are made to make the dishes light and to have them appeal even to foreign palates.

"We also limit the use of fatty items like coconut milk and we modify dishes that require thick coconut milk, using clear and light milk instead.

"Basically, the highlight of each of the dishes is the flavor of its own ingredients," Endah explained.

The tempo-doeloe culinary experience begins with a glass of herbal or fruity tea, like teh sereh, teh mangga or teh pala (teas with a palpable taste of either lemongrass, mango or nutmeg), while waiting for meal to be served.

Then comes the highlight of the lunch, consisting of rice, a main dish, several side dishes and the red and green chili, all served on a simple woven serving dish lined with a banana leaf.

The meal ends with a mildly tangy sorbet, like papaya or mango.

"We don't add milk or cream or coconut milk to the sorbets as we want to serve the fresh natural flavor of the fruits," Endah said.

Visitors can enjoy the meal inside the restaurant on a beautiful dining table, embellished with Widayanto's artistic ceramic designs, or take it outside and eat it on a bale-bale (a large traditional wooden chair), while also enjoying the breeze and the lovely view of the complex's tropical garden.

For groups, two types of traditional snacks are also prepared. These are serabi (sweet traditional cake with different kinds of toppings, like diced jackfruit or chocolate rice) and jadah (glutinous rice cake).

And as you sample the tempoe-doeloe it is likely that the conversation will turn to some of the favorite dishes your grandmother used to prepare for you when you were a kid.