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Polemik Rendang Babi
Kehebohan di tanah air dalam 48 jam terakhir adalah Rendang Babi. Berawal dari seorang pengusaha kuliner yang sepertinya kurang pemahaman dengan suku tertentu dan ingin berinovasi dengan bisnis kulinernya. Diciptakan menu seperti bawah ini:
Reaksi netizen berbagai macam, dimulai dari yang sinis ke pihak yang protes, pihak yang protes merasa dilecehkan, ada yang mencoba untuk open minded, atau ada yang menganggap netizen Indonesia hanya mempermasalahkan hal-hal yang remeh.
Kebetulan, istilah babi rendang bukan kali pertama aku dengar, sudah dari beberapa tahun yang lalu sering mendengar teman-teman Indonesia di pusat ngejoke tentang rendang babi, hanya tidak sampai viral seperti Babi Ambo.
Nasi Padang without halal cert but they don’t sell pork here. I think because those meat are not used for cuisine in Padang food. What I like in SG, people respect others belief & they really concern on this sensitive issues. In Indo, they even make a joke with pork rendang. pic.twitter.com/gEhrHQVRTy
— 🇺🇦🍞🍜🌻🌾🍝🥖🇲🇨 (@heymusafir) September 1, 2018
Di tahun 2018, secara gak sengaja menemukan Restoran Padang dengan tulisan Mandarin di Clarke Q, Singapura. Tentunya hal ini menarik bagi seorang Minang yang sedang berada di perantauan negara orang. Aku tertegun, meski semua staffnya berparas Cina, dan juga tidak ada logo Halal dari MUIS Singapura, tapi aku tidak menemukan bahan-bahan yang mengandung daging babi di menunya. Kenapa??
Pindah ke Singapura di tahun 2004, meski sering on and off antara Singapura – Indonesia, aku kenal negara ini dengan sangat baik. Racial Harmony sudah ditanamkan sejak dini, mereka mengerti kalau etnis Melayu itu tidak makan babi, dan babi merupakan hal yang tabu atau ‘disgusting’ bagi etnis Melayu. Sementara itu, etnis Melayu juga tau kalau daging babi itu Cina banget – mereka juga tidak mengolok-ngolokan pemakan babi.
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Running Routes in Chiang Mai
I was on a short trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand, and only spent my days exploring the city center, night market, and eating. I stared at my reflection on the mirror, it gave me a brief flashback of when I was eating pad Thai, Thai basil chicken, tom yum, sticky rice, omelets, and other snacks. I felt guilty and realized, that the combo of holiday and Thai Food make me fat, especially around the belly part.
I gained some weight during my short trip and I decided to go for a morning run before I left the country.
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First Impression of Iran
Before I go any further, my first impression of Iran is beyond my expectation. Iran is a mysterious and misunderstood country. You might get bored hearing travel bloggers who write about Iran for the first time, and receive similar reactions; friends, family, and colleagues ask them; why the hell do you go to Iran?
Some might think Iran is Iraq, but they can’t differentiate between Iran and Iraq. Iran is one of the new places I visited and felt so much safe, people are super friendly. They will smile at you and greet you with this simple sentence: Welcome to Iran, Welcome to Isfahan. Welcome to Shiraz!! And when you get lost, they will escort you to find the way to your destination.
Iran is the country I want to visit again but maybe when the weather is not cold or hot. I want to know more about Iran. So far, Iranians I met on the road were very open-minded, knowledgeable, and curious about the world.
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Foodporn in Krabi
I traveled to Krabi, Thailand during the wet season. It might be very depressing when you visit a place with beautiful beaches, but the dark cloud always blanketed the sky. There was no sunbathing or playing with water on the beach, the worst thing was no blue sky and the sun at all.Besides disturbing for taking photos, bad weather is not a BIG deal for me. Luckily, I’m not a beach person and Krabi is not only beaches, limestone mountains, diving, numerous caves and waterfalls, and hiking.
No, no. Krabi is also famous for its tempting cuisine. They have a cooking course for tourists which I want to join on my next visit. Even though Thailand is not a giant country, when it comes to food, there’s a multicultural touch in its cuisine. Thailand has great cuisine, and the taste is different from northern and southern cuisine. Now, you get what I mean.
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Siem Reap in a Nutshell
After a 6-hour road trip from Bangkok to Siem Reap and arriving in the evening, I’d never thought that Siem Reap was more developed and cleaner than the villages we passed along the journey from Poipet.A touristy city, small and enough to get around on foot or bicycle, clean, tuk-tuks, markets, and locals speaking good English is my first impression of Angkor Wat city. Then, the journey begins.
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The Art of Eating Raw Herring
I used to be a semi-vegetarian for a few years where I only ate fish and chicken, I avoided eating red meat as best I could, I felt better back then. In 2015, I’m thinking of being semi-vegetarian again, with no more red meat. Since I moved back to West Sumatra, where red meat and Rendang are everywhere here, I just couldn’t resist…. Yeah, it’s just my excuseAs a Pisces, I like to eat fish and am a big fan of seafood, Sushi with raw salmon. Sometimes, I feel like a cannibal with that. Eating my own ‘species’. Okay, okay forget about the zodiac because in the Chinese horoscope, I’m into 4 legs group.
When I heard the Dutch have a unique cuisine related to fish, it intrigued me a lot and I put this on my-to-do list in Holland. It called ‘Hollandse nieuwe, “new” raw herring’.
In my country, Indonesia, we have ‘gorengan’ for snacks. Gorengan is oily food and of course, it’s not highly recommended to eat every day, In the USA or McDonald’s, they have Burger which is a very high-carb kind of snack, I like the Netherlands with its healthy Omega3 Snack.
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Indonesisch Restaurant
Over half a century has gone by, since the separation between fatherland and motherland, nasi goreng, gado-gado, kerupuk, sambal, tempeh, kecap and sate are quite familiar in the Dutch society, it is already part of Dutch cuisine. This is one of the positive thing of colonialism for me.
As today’s generation, when I was in the Netherlands and seeing pieces of my country in The Netherlands makes me feel like home and I love Holland. One factor why I put the Netherlands as one of my favorite countries in the world, because I don’t feel foreign in a foreign soil.
During my 3 weeks in The Netherlands, I captured some Indonesisch restaurants scattered around the country, and based on resources I got over the Internet, we’ll see, there are hundreds of Indonesian restaurants in The Netherlands.
It’s just nice to see pieces of your country in someone else’s country, isn’t it?? I feel so, it makes me feel at home. Well, I love traveling, and I don’t mind staying or living overseas for a very long period or the rest of my life, I didn’t experience culture shock at all when I first stayed In the Netherlands, I enjoy living in a multicultural environment, it makes my life more colorful. I didn’t feel homesick at all when I stayed in The Netherlands, but one thing I miss when I stay far away from my home country is the food, my Indonesian food.
From my experience living with multicultural friends, I do love tasting a variety of food, such as Indian, Japanese, Turkish, Vietnamese etcetera. I love food from all over the world, as long as they are not into bizarre food i.e., snake soup, animal testicles, monkey’s brain (reminds me of one of the episodes in the Indiana Jones movie) I don’t mind consuming ‘normal’ food from all over the world.
For me, every country has its unique taste in food, from its smell, looks, and whatever I can’t describe in a short sentence. However, from all of the food I’ve known in the world, Indonesian food is the best for me I always miss it wherever I go. Why?? The answer is easy because I grew up with Indonesian food, hot and spicy kind of food… It’s the best taste in the world. When I had dinner with my Western friends, I enjoyed watching them look so scared when I was so brave eating some chilly paddy or chili pepper, Eating these chilies, it’s like a Superpower for me!! I can do what you can’t do!! yes, eating hot and spicy food….
In this entry, I’ll share with you guys some Indonesisch restaurant photographs I captured during my short visit to The Netherlands… Genoten!!
Works, Journey, Journals
