Indonesia Food Culture is about the narratives built from cultural & nature biodiversity. Indonesia is a country with 17.000 islands; with an area of 1.905.000 km2 consisting of 70% water and 30% land that makes Indonesia popular as a maritime country. Having said that, Indonesia possesses 17% of world’s flora and fauna, 88 hectares of tropical rain forest, 2500 sea water fish, 2400 fresh water fish as well as 40.000 types of plants.
What do Indonesians eat? How important is food in Indonesian tradition? From the west to the east of Indonesia we will find many unique eating habits. There are 5000 traditional recipes spread all over the Indonesian archipelago.
As we all know, these eating habits are influenced by the geographical position that formed the food landscape of one particular region. People who live in the shore would eat fish and seafood; and people from the mountains will eat more meat or poultry, as well as fruits and vegetables.
There are interesting traditions found around Indonesia, where food also plays an important role in ritual ceremonies, the ancient tradition that still exist until now. There are more than 70 ritual & traditional ceremonies in Indonesia, with food becoming the center of interest.
The stories in Indonesia Food Culture are crafted from the cultural diversity, heritage, ritual ceremonies and local produce in each region. Indonesia has common food items that can be found in most regions, such as Sambal (Chili paste) and Soto (Indonesian Soup). There are more than 100 types of Sambal and 70 types of Soto in Indonesia. The cooking process is another story that might be of interest to explore. These stories will be found in Google Art & Culture.
In the first edition of Indonesia Food Culture; Indonesian Gastronomy Network will highlight the main local ingredients, starting with the SPICES and HERBS that have been processed as the Indonesian traditional healthy drink called JAMU. Let’s start the Journey of Indonesian Food Culture!
