Upaboga di Indonesia: Food history at your fingertips

Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta

On 26 April, the world of gastronomy in Indonesia reached an important milestone when Mirta Kartohadiprodjo, the president of book publisher Gaya Favorit Press, launched Upaboga di Indonesia, the first ever encyclopedia of food in this country.

Written by Suryatini N. Ganie, a seasoned expert on Indonesian gastronomy whose insightful articles used to appear in The Indonesian Observer, Garuda Inflight Magazine and the Bogasari Flourmills Magazine, this colorful encyclopedia of 336 pages is a major contribution to fostering knowledge on Indonesian gastronomy and cuisine.

Organized in alphabetical order, the encyclopedia does not stop at definitions, but stretches from food, dishes and substances to fruits and vegetables, their culinary uses, some planting details, historical backgrounds and a hundred comprehensive recipes.

In addition, there is also information about drinks, such as coffee, where it comes from, and the most popular types of coffee in Indonesia. Quite remarkably, there is also a note on how much coffee to consume to prevent jet lag. If you are flying towards the west, drink three cups of coffee without sugar in the morning, while if you are flying towards the east, do not take any coffee. Better still, stop drinking coffee three days before departure, says the note, citing Charles F. Ehret from the Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago.

Although some of East Indonesia's popular dishes, like the Makassarese sop konro, are missing, the encyclopedia is fairly comprehensive and one may find several dishes one has never heard of.

Docang, for instance, is quite foreign to those who are not from the Cirebon area, but if ever you find it on a menu and wish to know what you are having, then have a look at this encyclopedia and find out what it entails. In fact, it is a typical dish from Cirebon consisting of lontong, urap and an oncom sauce.

For information on lontong, just select 'L' in the alphabet, and you will find out that lontong is made of rice, is oblong shaped and wrapped in banana leaf, and is cooked and used as a complement to various other dishes.

Urap, according to the encyclopedia, consists of various cooked vegetables which are mixed with grated coconut and various spices. So what then is oncom? Well, it is a substance resulting from fungal fermentation of waste like that which emerges from pressed peanuts, or the residues of tofu, cassava or coconuts. Sounds yummy, right?

The encyclopedia and the recipes also reveal that an astounding number of items that we might have assumed to be Indonesian appear to have their roots elsewhere in the world, such as nasi goreng (fried rice) and mi (noodle), which are popular dishes even for the man in the street.

Suryatini Ganie points to the culinary exchanges that have occurred during encounters with foreign envoys or traders who came to our archipelago, the first of whom came from Mongolia, mainland China, other parts of the Far East and the Indian peninsula.

One Mongolian envoy, for instance, brought along a food staple called mian that was made from wheat. Traders from India and Central Asia, who traveled to Eastern Indonesia in search of spices, called in places such as Aceh. Dishes like kare kambing (goat curry) and roti cane stem from such encounters. The word `roti' is one of the Indian terms for food made from flour, explains Suryatinie.

Then, there are the Portuguese and the Spaniards, who also made an impression on our culinary traditions. Bolu, a sweet cake, stems from the Portuguese bolo and the names of many fish favorites that are smoked or baked stem from the Spanish barbakoa.

One should not forget the Dutch whose stay in this archipelago was the longest. People on Java especially are familiar with what is called Bruine bonen soup, or huzaren sla. However, the encyclopedia could have added that although the Dutch made it popular here, huzaren sla may actually have originated in Russia. In Dutch cafes, it is called Russian salad.

There is also the famous kaasstengels (cheese sticks), which are part of Dutch culinary heritage and have not only become popular here, but are also considered "traditional", and are a must for the Lebaran celebrations. While the Dutch terms have been maintained in many cases, local terms have also developed. Huzaren sla, for instance, is also called slada usar.

While it is perhaps not so important to know where our dishes come from, knowledge of the origins of the food we eat every day might somehow help reduce chauvinistic arrogance.

Upaboga di Indonesia, Encyclopedia Pangan & Kumpulan Resep; 28.5 x 21.5 cm; Author: Suryatini N. Ganie; Published by Gaya Favorit Press; Available from all good bookshops; Price: Rp. 175.000.