Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine June 2016 | Page 83

Explore | Flavours

© ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo; © travel images / Alamy Stock Photo

Jakarta, the ‘Big Durian’,
celebrates its 489th anniversary
this month. Arya Arditya offers
an insight into the eclectic
cuisine prepared in the
fragrant kitchens of the Betawi
people, who trace their origins
across the globe.
With an extremely heterogeneous population
of around 10 million, Jakarta is one of the
largest and densest metropolises in the
world. It is a mosaic of cultures and
traditions from across the archipelago and
from every corner of the globe.
This metropolis, which changed names from
Sunda Kelapa to Jayakarta and then Batavia,
and finally Jakarta, has always been a busy
urban agglomeration. The small port of
Sunda Kelapa grew into an active hub of
international trade, primarily involving
ethnic groups across the Nusantara, Chinese,
Indian and Arab traders, before Western
interests were involved.
Colonial-era Batavia was no exception;
as the central hub of the archipelago, it saw
a large influx of people, especially from
eastern Indonesia, in the 17th century,
enriching an already established mix of
cultures. Historically, the Betawi people trace
their origins to the diverse groups of people
living around Batavia at the time.
The Betawi people are a Creole ethnic group
who came from various parts of Indonesia
– Sunda, Java, Bali, Minangkabau, Bugis,
Makassar and Ambon – and from around the
world, including foreign ethnic groups such
as Mardijker, Portuguese, Dutch, Arab,
Chinese and Indian. And over the centuries
this amalgam of people at the centre of
a dynamic melting pot of ethnic, cultural
and social diversity developed its own

The best Betawi food tends to be sold
by street food hawkers and at modest
market stalls.
Roti buaya (literally ‘crocodile bread’)
is a simple, sugary-sweet bread with
European origins.
With its strong and unique taste and
smell, jengkol is as divisive as the durian.
You either love it or hate it.

Jakarta is one of the largest
and densest metropolises
in the world. It is a mosaic
of cultures and traditions...

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