I THINK I had just teleported to Indonesia.
While I do not have special powers to do so, I was transported to Indonesia for the first time when I had the chance to dine with amiable Indonesians and Marco Polo Davao chefs during the Indonesian Cooking Demo at the residence of the Indonesian Consul General, Berlian Napitupulu, last Wednesday afternoon.
I came to the event at the request of my boss and since my mantra is to always say yes to new opportunities then the plot will always be predictable, that is, you would really expect me to say yes to this kind of invitation.
As I was dropped by the taxi driver at Phase 4, Ecoland Subdivision, Matina in Davao City just in front of the office of the Consulate General of Indonesia, the security guard at the gate attentively welcome me the moment I told him the purpose for my visit. I was then ushered to the venue where the cooking demo was being held.
Miss Endah Yuliarti Farry, the First Secretary to Consul for Information and Socio Cultural Affairs and the one whom I had been communicating with before coming to the event, was very hospitable and she immediately led me to Consul General Napitupulu and introduced me to him. The Consul is just as hospitable and likable that it was not really hard to immediately make friends with him and the rest of the Indonesian folks who were there for the event.
The Consul General told us that the cooking demo was actually just the first of the five series that they are going to conduct here in the city. All of the demos will be held in the same venue and the purpose of which is to promote Indonesian Cuisine in the city.
The Indonesian Consulate has partnered with the Marco Polo Davao and had agreed on a deal that in exchange for them teaching the chefs on how to prepare and cook Indonesian food for free, the hotel will also serve Indonesian cuisine. This is not the first time that the two had engaged on this partnership as an Indonesian Culinary Festival was already held at the hotel last March 17 to 19.
What I liked about Indonesian culinary is that it is much closer to Filipino’s cuisine. The main ingredients are similar to what we are used to but what set them apart is that they vary in terms of the taste.
Filipinos and Indonesians definitely have distinct taste preference.
During the cooking demo, we had the chance to taste Indonesian food like the Beef Rendang. While I am not new to this kind of dish as I had always loved Beef Rendang way back when I first tasted it in my alma mater, the Mindanao State University-Marawi, still I take pride that I had the chance to taste authentic Beef Rendang. Who wouldn’t? Rendang is a meat dish that originated in Indonesia.
Aside from that, they also served us the KueKacamata or the Kacamata cake which was the dish I loved the most. Kacamata means “eyeglasses” in English. The dish is so-named as the food is shaped like tiny spectacles. I love it because it doesn’t taste foreign and it is much the same to Filipino’s Kutsinta and cassava cake.
They also served us a Langka (shredded unripe jackfruit) dish which is almost the same to our Filipino Langka dish - the only difference is that you couldn’t find or taste gata (coconut milk) on it. A rolled steamed Papaya and Cassava leaves were also served to us and it really came as a shock because I had never really thought that Papaya and Cassava leaves can be eaten. If there’s an instance that I will be stuck in an island after a shipwreck (God forbids), I will definitely find these leaves for survival 101.
My tastebuds were really enlightened during the Indonesian cooking demo event and the food helped me know Indonesia, the Philippines neighbor, even better.
Cheers to more Indonesian exposure!