Food was Grandad’s way of uniting people
“Personally, I’ve never cooked my own Batak ethnicity food here because it uses specific ingredients, such as andaliman, torch ginger [a flower bud] and bualo milk cheese dali ni horbo, rarely found outside Indonesia. Indonesians are increasingly passionate about this vast food culture, with critics and enthusiasts encouraging people to travel and educate themselves about regional cuisines.
“I grew up in the capital Jakarta and, when I was young, we lived with my grandparents. My granddad placed a lot of importance on us eating together and makan tengah, which translates as ‘eating in the middle’ – a communal style of Indonesian dining where dishes are spread across the table and shared, family-style. Any time the family was in the same city, he’d get everyone together. Food was Granddad’s way of uniting people.
“On my fifth birthday – we were in Batam away from my kindergarten friends – I was pretty thrown to receive a nasi tumpeng rather than a birthday cake. Tumpeng is an extravagant cone of golden yellow rice served at weddings and celebrations, surrounded by dierent dishes. It symbolises virtue and wealth. ‘The higher the tumpeng, the closer to heaven,’ people say. It turns out my granddad had used my birthday as an excuse for an oce party with work colleagues. But, as the day went on, it turned into a joyous atmosphere of dancing and karaoke, eating, singing and mingling. That magnificent dish can inspire real festivity in a crowd.
“Aged nine, my family moved to Singapore and we’d often eat on-the-go from hawker stalls, similar to ones in Jakarta. There are carts and humble street-side eateries on every corner of Indonesia. It’s a big part of our eating culture, regardless of your socio-economic background. You’ll find a woman in a business suit sat across from couriers, punk rockers next to graphic designers. It’s beautiful.
“Growing up, pisang goreng – banana fritters – were a favourite of my mum’s, eaten indoors on rainy days with hot, sweet jasmine tea. All my family are back in Jakarta now and it’s become a tradition that, when I fly home, my mum and sister pick me up, and we stop at a nearby fritter stall.” sp00ns.com @eatwithsp00ns
Above from left: Chocolate orange wingko babat (a type of coconut cake); Rahel with lemper tahu – sticky rice parcels stued with spiced tofu; banana blossom sambal matah.
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