Upaboga di Indonesia: Food history at your fingertips
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.