Traditional food whets tourists' appetite

By R. Agus Bakti

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Kaliurang, a half-hour drive from the city of Yogyakarta, is a tourist area located at the foot of Mount Merapi.

Its claim to fame is its celebrated dish jadah tempe.

Jadah is a traditional snack made of glutinous rice and usually eaten with tempe bacem, or tempeh stewed in a syrupy sauce.

A jadah vendor, Nunuk, said the Kaliurang dish existed for many years but experienced a growth in popularity in the 1950s.

The Kaliurang dish is distinguished by its aroma and presentation. It is not cut into pieces like in other areas.

It is sold in flat chunks the size of a fist. The white jadah is served while it is hot with the sweet tempe bacem. Its texture should be soft. Skill and accuracy are required to make the dish and the glutinous rice is flavored with pandan (pandanus).

In the Kaliurang tourist area, Nunuk and some 120 other vendors sell the food around Telaga Putri Park. Tourists usually stop to enjoy the dish after a walk enjoying the cool mountain air.

Take-away is popular among visitors for their relatives and friends. The dish must later be reheated if it is cold. "The taste remains good if the jadah is not scorched," Nunuk said.

The biggest jadah tempe was created on Sept. 5 during the Kaliurang Festival 1999. The diameter of the rice measured between four meters and five meters and the tempe was a length of 7.5 meters.

The coordinator for the program, Sukamto, explained that many people were required to make the giant jadah. "Nearly all the jadah traders in Kaliurang were involved."

Participation of the inhabitants in the area, mainly the traders, was projected to popularize the food, both here and abroad.

The festive occasion was held at Kaliurang Recreation Park. All the equipment was in place by early morning. There were rice cookers to prepare the glutinous rice, giant tampah (wooden trays), and the ingredients of glutinous rice, coconuts, brown sugar and tempeh.

In keeping with the size of the dish, the equipment was considerable. For example, the diameter of the tray to lay out the jadah measured five meters. It was placed in the middle of the recreation park.

The experts took turns. Some were engaged in cooking the glutinous rice, while others took charge of making tempe bacem. Others turned their talents to the garnish.

Sukamto said that 10 experts were in charge of the work, assisted by 40 people.

It took from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. before it was completed. When the product was ready it was measured by an official of the Indonesian Record Museum. The rather round structure measured four meters by five meters, with a thickness of 10 cms. The tempe bacem was 7.5 meters long and was arranged around the jadah, with 3,600 pieces of tempeh required.

The decoration in the middle was made from tempeh and read "FK 99" for Festival Kaliurang 1999. A large and long enthong (rice spoon) was needed to make the decoration. The person in charge had to climb on a chair to write the letters.

The jadah required 150 kgs of rice, 200 coconuts, 50 kgs of brown sugar, 10 pieces of firewood and 400 banana leaves.

Manager of the Indonesian Record Museum Paulus Pangka was among the thousands of attendants. Paulus said that the appreciation given by the museum was fitting because the Kaliurang inhabitants were able to break the existing record of the size of jadah tempe.

Paulus noted it was important to develop and conserve traditional food. "It will eventually lead to tourist promotion in Indonesia, not only in Kaliurang," he said. He informed the public that the biggest jadah tempe was entered as number 421 in the Indonesian Record Museum.

After the dish was made, the Indonesian Record Museum issued a certificate and an auction was held. The auction started with the cutting of the dish by Sutrisno, the Sleman regional secretary.

Spectators present from the early morning excitedly came for an up-close view of the dish. A card system was used for the auction which took place in two sessions. At the first auction, Rp 10,000 tickets were each exchanged for one kilogram of jadah and 10 pieces of tempeh. In the second, Rp 5,000 tickets were submitted for exchange of the food. The auction lasted more than one hour.

The success in making the giant dish was due to the endeavor and spirit of the vendors. Last year the record for making the biggest ampyang was also broken. Ampyang, another specialty of the region, is made of brown sugar and groundnuts.

With the success of the biggest jadah tempe, it is hoped that the food will become more famous and enhance both domestic and foreign tourist visits. Please come to Kaliurang to taste the warm and tender jadah.