Ted Meinhover

 

“Public Noise”

~Work in Progress~

The musicians that make a living strumming, singing and banging on streets, buses and trains

It’s a hot afternoon, during the lull between lunch and the afternoon rush hour, and the few passengers on the train doze quietly as the ill-kept car rocks back and forth down the track towards downtown Jakarta. At one of the stops, perhaps Pasar Minggu, a group of young men rush in, carrying an assortment of instruments, their suddenly vibrant energy disrupts the hypnotic mood of the heat and steady rhythm of the tracks. Catching themselves as the train lurches forward once again, they have already broken into their own version of the latest and most popular pop song, rearranged for whatever musicians have shown up that day for the afternoon commute; in this case, a guitar, drummer, violinist, bass guitar, and various vocalists that alternate between bellowing out the chorus and walking around to collect money in a hat.

 

 

“Jalan Jalan, Cari Makan”

Food, an elemental part of social, spititual, political Indonesia

 

Fierce nationalism may often be an essential makeup of the Indonesian mentality; that, I believe is an essential element at this point in the existence of this massive social construction, this nation-state that binds together so many from so many places. However, one of the national slogans is also “Unity in Diversity,” and those characteristics that make Indonesians different from one another may be just as fiercely defended and celebrated.

Food is by far no exception to this; it is, at least, one of the least contentious. Jakarta is a perfect place to experience this, for it draws its demography from all over the archipeligo, indeed from all over the world.

Take lunch today. Jon, Hikita’s friend that he met at some function for his job in Jakarta, invited us over to his sister’s house for lunch. The whole family is from Sumatra Utara, and they went out of their way to point that many of the dishes were traditional from their ethnic group, and would not be found amongst your normal Javanese dishes.

Ibu, his mom, was visiting the kids that had moved to capitol, and provided both the best conversation and cooking skills of the afternoon. This is her with one of the dishes of ikan mas. That’s right, gold fish. Really, gold fish. It’s a delicacy in North Sumatra, traditionally reserved for the king and for very special occasions, I am told.

Other fantastic dishes that turned lunch into a feast, and a cultural experience: apparently our goldfish was a mother to be, for she was loaded with eggs. Telor ikan. Yes, these ones:

Also, because a good deal of the people from Sumatra Utara, including of course this family, are not Muslims, giving them a little more culinary flexibility, especially when it comes to cooking with babi, or pork, of course. Which was a bit of a treat, it’s been over a month. Not that I’m the biggest fan ever of daging babi, but it’s nice to have once in a while.

 

And then, of course, there is the eating out experience. As a temporary student here in Depok, I have little to now access to cooking facilities. Which is hardly a curse, for, in a place where daily existence is not characterized by wide open spaces and privacy, life happens on the street. And it’s easy to understand why food is such an important part of this social reality, cause, well, you gotta eat. My limited experience has brought me everywhere from proper restaurants with air conditioning to shops that slide up their garage door in the morning to the tents that are set up at the side of the road to the “lima kaki,” five feet, the guys that push their carts around selling whatever they are selling.

Again, the diversity of Indonesia is expressed through its food. Bakso, one of Indonesia’s specialty’s, is also one of my favorites. A clear broth soup, usually with baso, kind of meat balls, sometimes with other crazy stuff like these meat stuffed tofu. This one is at “Bakso Malang Margonda,” a great little restaurant on Jalan Margonda that serves the dish in the style of Malang, a beautiful University town in Eastern Java.

Indonesians love to snack, and keropok, made from fish, somehow, are awesome. Kind of a salty cracker. That’s fishy. yeah.

It seems that food is available everywhere you go. Making it and serving it is the livelihood of many many people. And, as my many friends that have done their time in food service will say, there are very few that work harder. This woman was selling fresh nasi uduk, made on the spot, on the long train ride to Jogyakarta.

Lot’s of drinks, quite often very sweet, not always. Thought the Es Alpukat, iced avocado, was especially cool. Enak, delicious, as well.

Another of my favorites has turned out to be gado gado. So good. It’s fun to eat, too, because, each place makes it a little bit differently. Always starts with a spicy peanut sauce base, then add all sorts of stuff from vegetables to tofu to squares of compressed rice. These guys are artists, their hands flying in their ritualistic motions.

Let us not forget desert, of course. This one, Es Nangka, at Es Teler 77, one of the mall-type chain restaurants, combines my favorite SouthEast Asian fruit, jackfruit, with ice and lots of sweet liquids. Yum.

 

 

By the way, I may have to do a whole essay on coffee. Kopi bubuk, kopi aceh, kopi bali. I can’t help it, i’m an adict…