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The map of Indonesia and Malaysia showing the distribution of the Buginese community

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The map of Indonesia and Malaysia showing the distribution of the Buginese community

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(Image retrieved from Google)

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We Are What We Eat_ Diving for Dinner With the Sea Gypsies

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The map showing the distribution of the Sikh community worldwide. 

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The map showing the distribution of the Sikh community worldwide. 

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Many Sikh have left the Punjab region and settled in places around the world such as England, China, United States and Australia.

(Image retrieved from Google)

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In Sikhism, only lacto-vegetarian food is served in the Gurdwara (Sikh temple).

The Sikh Gurus have indicated their preference for a simple diet, which could include meat or be vegetarian.

Guru Nanak said that over consumption of food involves a drain on the Earth's resources and thus on life.

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Followers of Sikhism do not have a preference for meat or vegetarian consumption. There are two views on initiated or "Amritdhari Sikhs" and meat consumption. "Amritdhari" Sikhs (i.e. those that follow the Sikh Rehat Maryada - the Official Sikh Code of Conduct) can eat meat (provided it is not Kutha meat)."Amritdharis" that belong to some Sikh sects (e.g. Akhand Kirtani Jatha, Damdami Taksal, Namdhari, Rarionwalay, etc.) are vehemently against the consumption of meat and eggs.

The Sikh Gurus have indicated their preference for a simple diet, which could include meat or be vegetarian. In the case of meat, passages from the Guru Granth Sahib (the holy book of Sikhs, also known as the Adi Granth) say that fools argue over this issue. Guru Nanak said that overconsumption of food ( Lobh, Greed) involves a drain on the Earth's resources and thus on life. The tenth guru, Guru Gobind Singh, prohibited the Sikhs from the consumption of Kutha (any ritually slaughtered meat) meat because of the Sikh belief that sacrificing an animal in the name of God is mere ritualism (something to be avoided).

On the views that eating vegetation would be eating flesh, first Sikh Guru Nanak states:

ਪਾਂਡੇ ਤੂ ਜਾਣੈ ਹੀ ਨਾਹੀ ਕਿਥਹੁ ਮਾਸੁ ਉਪੰਨਾ ॥ ਤੋਇਅਹੁ ਅੰਨੁ ਕਮਾਦੁ ਕਪਾਹਾਂ ਤੋਇਅਹੁ ਤ੍ਰਿਭਵਣੁ ਗੰਨਾ ॥

O Pandit, you do not know where did flesh originate! It is water where life originated and it is water that sustains all life. It is water that produces grains, sugarcane, cotton and all forms of life.

On Vegetation, the Guru described it as living and experiencing pain:

Look, and see how the sugar-cane is cut down. After cutting away its branches, its feet are bound together into bundles,
and then, it is placed between the wooden rollers and crushed.
What punishment is inflicted upon it! Its juice is extracted and placed in the cauldron; as it is heated, it groans and cries out.
And then, the crushed cane is collected and burnt in the fire below.
Nanak: come, people, and see how the sweet sugar-cane is treated!

Sikhs who eat meat, eat Jhatka meat.

In Sikhism, only lacto-vegetarian food is served in the Gurdwara (Sikh temple) but Sikhs aren't bound to be meat-free. The general consensus is that Sikhs are free to choose whether to adopt a meat diet or not. Sikhs, once they become Amritdhari (baptised) via the Amrit Sanchaar (baptism ceremony), are forbidden from eating Kutha or ritually-slaughtered ( Halal, Kosher) meat because it transgresses one of the four restrictions in the Sikh Code of Conduct.

The Akal Takht (Central Body for Sikh Temporal Affairs) represents the final authority on controversial issues concerning the Sikh Panth (community or collective). The Hukamnama (edict or clarification), issued by Akal Takht Jathedar (head priest or head caretaker) Sadhu Singh Bhaura dated February 15, 1980, states that eating meat does not go against the code of conduct ( Kurehit) of the Sikhs; Amritdhari Sikhs can eat meat as long as it is Jhatka meat.

Disagreement with the ruling

Some religious sects of Sikhism- Damdami Taksal, Akhand Kirtani Jatha, Namdharis, Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha and the 3HO-believe that the Sikh diet should be meat-free. The reason for the disagreement with this ruling is that these sects had many Vaishnav converts to Sikhism who were staunchly vegetarian.

The Akhand Kirtani Jatha dispute the meaning of the word " kutha", claiming it means all meat. However, in mainstream Sikhism this word has been accepted to mean that which has been prepared according to Muslim rituals.

According to Surjit Singh Gandhi, the Guru Granth Sahib on page 472 and Guru Nanak in early 16th century said that "avoidance of flesh as food was impractical and impossible so long as they used water, since water was the source of all life and the first life principle".

Within the gurdwara, the Guru ka Langar (Guru's community kitchen) serves purely lacto-vegetarian food because the Langar is open to all. Since people of many faiths with varying dietary taboos, and since Sikhs accept these restrictions and accommodate people regardless of their faith or culture, the Sikh Gurus adopt vegetarian food for Langar. Meat was included in langar at the time of Guru Angad, but was discontinued to accommodate Vashnavites. The exception to vegetarian langar today is when Nihangs serve meat on the occasion of Holla Mohalla, and call it Maha Prashad.

Sikhism argues that the soul can possibly undergo millions of transformations as various forms of life before ultimately becoming human. These life forms could be a mineral, vegetation, or an animal. Sikhism does not see a difference between these types of existence, however the human has a privileged position compared to other life forms. In terms of the Sikh view of karma, human life is seen as being most precious, and animal, vegetable, and mineral all viewed as being equally below human life. Therefore, Sikhs view eating an animal is the same as eating a plant or mineral.

The Sikh code of conduct on the Sikh diet (Rehat Maryada)

According to the Sikh code of conduct or Rehat Maryada, Sikhs are free to choose whether or not to include meat in their diet.

In the Rehat Maryada, Article XXIV - Ceremony of Baptism or Initiation (page 38), it states:

The undermentioned four transgressions (tabooed practices) must be avoided:

1. Dishonouring the hair

2. Eating the meat of an animal slaughtered the Muslim way (Kutha)

3. Cohabiting with a person other than one's spouse

4. Using tobacco.

The Rehat Maryada states that Sikhs are bound to avoid meat that is killed in a ritualistic manner such as Halal (Muslim) or Kosher (Jewish).

I. J. Singh states that throughout Sikh history, there have been many subsects of Sikhism that have espoused vegetarianism. However, this was rejected by the Sikh Gurus. Sikhs consider that vegetarianism and meat-eating are unimportant in the realm of Sikh spirituality. Surinder Singh Kohli links vegetarianism to Vashnavite behaviour. Gopal Singh, commenting on meat being served in the langar during the time of Guru Angad Gyani Sher Singh-who was the head priest at the Darbar Sahib-notes that ahimsa does not fit in with Sikh doctrine. W. Owen Cole and Piara Singh Sambhi comment that if the Sikh Gurus had made an issue on vegetarianism, it would have distracted from the main emphasis of Sikh spirituality. H. S. Singha and Satwant Kaur comment on how ritually-slaughtered meat is considered a sin for initiated Sikhs. G. S. Sidhu also notes that ritually-slaughtered meat is taboo for a Sikh. Gurbakhsh Singh comments on how non-Kutha meat is acceptable for the Sikhs. Surinder Singh Kohli comments on the "fools wrangle over flesh" quotation from the Guru Granth Sahib by noting how Guru Nanak mocked hypocritical vegetarian priests. Gobind Singh Mansukhani states how vegetarianism and meat-eating has been left to the individual Sikh. Devinder Singh Chahal comments on the difficulties of distinguishing between plant and animal in Sikh philosophy. H. S. Singha comments in his book how the Sikh Gurus ate meat. Khushwant Singh also notes that most Sikhs are meat-eaters and decry vegetarians as daal khorey (lentil-eaters).

There are a number of eyewitness accounts from European travelers as to the eating habits of Sikhs. According to William Francklin in his writing about Mr George Thomas 1805: "They are not prohibited the use of Animal food of any kind, excepting Beef, which they are rigidly scrupulous in abstaining from."

According to Dabistan e Mazhib (a contemporary Persian chronology of the Sikh Gurus), Guru Nanak did not eat meat, and Guru Arjan thought that meat eating was not in accordance with Nanak's wishes. This differs from I. J. Singh's research that states that Guru Nanak ate meat on the way to Kurukshetra. According to Persian records, Guru Hargobind (the 6th Guru) ate meat and hunted, and his practice was adopted by most Sikhs.

Many Sikhs keep Sarbloh Bibek. Sarbloh means all- iron[citation needed ] and Bibek meaning conscious principles[citation needed ]. Sikhs who follow this practice eat from iron bowls and iron plates only. According to Sarbloh Bibek, food must be cooked in iron cauldrons or other iron utensils while reciting Gurbani or Simran (meditating).[dubious ] Sikhs traditionally use sand to clean the iron utensils, but today Sikhs speed up the process using a mixture of dishwashing soap, sand, water, and a steel wool soap pad.

Another key aspect to maintaining Sarbloh Bibek is that Sikhs must only eat food prepared by other Amritdhari (baptized) Sikhs. Amritdhari Sikhs are also not to eat Jootha food (previously eaten food) from non-Amritdharis.

Sarbloh was used by Guru Gobind Singh to prepare Amrit during the Khalsa initiation ceremony in 1699. The Khanda (a double edged knife or sword) was also made of Sarbloh. To this day Amrit Sanchar ceremonies are conducted using a bata (bowl) and Khanda (sword) made of sarbloh.

1. ^ "Misconceptions About Eating Meat - Comments of Sikh Scholars," Archived 28 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine at The Sikhism Home Page Archived 17 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine

2. ^ Sikhs and Sikhism, by I.J. Singh, Manohar, Delhi ISBN 978-81-7304-058-0: Throughout Sikh history, there have been movements or subsects of Sikhism which have espoused vegetarianism. I think there is no basis for such dogma or practice in Sikhism. Certainly Sikhs do not think that a vegetarian's achievements in spirituality are easier or higher. It is surprising to see that vegetarianism is such an important facet of Hindu practice in light of the fact that animal sacrifice was a significant and much valued Hindu Vedic ritual for ages. Guru Nanak in his writings clearly rejected both sides of the arguments-on the virtues of vegetarianism or meat eating-as banal and so much nonsense, nor did he accept the idea that a cow was somehow more sacred than a horse or a chicken. He also refused to be drawn into a contention on the differences between flesh and greens, for instance. History tells us that to impart this message, Nanak cooked meat at an important Hindu festival in Kurukshetra. Having cooked it he certainly did not waste it, but probably served it to his followers and ate himself. History is quite clear that Guru Hargobind and Guru Gobind Singh were accomplished and avid hunters. The game was cooked and put to good use, to throw it away would have been an awful waste.

3. ^ Guru Granth Sahib, An Analytical Study by Surindar Singh Kohli, Singh Bros. Amritsar ISBN 81-7205-060-7: The ideas of devotion and service in Vaishnavism have been accepted by Adi Granth, but the insistence of Vaishnavas on vegetarian diet has been rejected.

4. ^ A History of the Sikh People by Dr. Gopal Singh, World Sikh University Press, Delhi ISBN 978-81-7023-139-4: However, it is strange that now-a-days in the Community-Kitchen attached to the Sikh temples, and called the Guru's Kitchen (or, Guru-ka-langar) meat-dishes are not served at all. May be, it is on account of its being, perhaps, expensive, or not easy to keep for long. Or, perhaps the Vaishnava tradition is too strong to be shaken off.

5. ^ Vegetarianism and Meat-Eating in 8 Religions Archived 26 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine April/May/June, 2007 Hinduism Today

6. ^ Philosophy of Sikhism by Gyani Sher Singh (Ph. D), Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. Amritsar: As a true Vaisnavite Kabir remained a strict vegetarian. Kabir far from defying Brahmanical tradition as to the eating of meat, would not permit so much, as the plucking of a flower (G.G.S. p. 479), whereas Nanak deemed all such scruples to be superstitions, Kabir held the doctrine of Ahinsa or the non-destruction of life, which extended even to that of flowers. The Sikh Gurus, on the contrary, allowed and even encouraged, the use of animal flesh as food. Nanak has exposed this Ahinsa superstition in Asa Ki War (G.G.S. p. 472) and Malar Ke War (G.G.S. p. 1288)

7. ^ "Langar," Archived 2 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine at http://www.sikhwomen.com Archived 27 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine

8. Punjabi-English Dictionary, Punjabi University, Dept. of Punjabi Lexicography, ^ ISBN 81-7380-095-2; Hardcover; 2002-10-01

9. ^ Singh Dhillon, Dalbir (1988). Sikhism, Origin and Development. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers & Distributors. p. 247. ISBN 9788171561520.

10. ^ H. S. Singha & Satwant Kaur Hemkunt (1994). "Sikhism, A Complete Introduction" (Limited preview digitized online by Google books). New Delhi: Hemkunt Press. ISBN 81-7010-245-6.

11. ^ Gyani Sher Singh, Philosophy of Sikhism, Amritsar: Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee

12. Siques, Tigers or Thieves Parmjit Singh & Amandeep Singh Madra ^ ISBN 1-4039-6202-2

13. ^ John Griffiths writes on 17 February 1794: Now become a Singh, he is a heterodox, and distinct from the Hindoos by whom he is considered an apostate. He is not restricted in his diet, but is allowed, by the tenets of his new religion, to devour whatever food his appetite may prompt, excepting beef."

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Followers of Sikhism do not have a preference for meat or vegetarian consumption. There are two views on initiated or "Amritdhari Sikhs" and meat consumption. "Amritdhari" Sikhs (i.e. those that follow the Sikh Rehat Maryada - the Official Sikh Code of Conduct) can eat meat (provided it is not Kutha meat)."Amritdharis" that belong to some Sikh sects (e.g.

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The map of Sabah showing the distribution of the Bajau Laut community

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The map of Sabah showing the distribution of the Bajau Laut community

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(Image retrieved from Google)

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The sea gypsies are exceptional free divers. All this as they hunt for fish, lobsters, sea cucumbers (tripang) and other marine life. They earn their living solely based on the ocean’s resources.

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The Bajau Laut are known as 'Sea Gypsies' due to their nomadic, seafaring way of life

They may be found in Mabul, Bohey Dulang, Sibuan, Maiga, Mantabuan, Selakan & Omadal

The Regatta Lepa is a popular annual festival celebrating their wonderful customs and traditions

Few communities around the world can boast a deeper connection with the ocean than the legendary Bajau Laut of Borneo, who follow a nomadic, seafaring way of life throughout their entire lives; they rarely set foot on land.

Population

The sea gypsies are true masters of the sea, having roamed the waters of the Coral Triangle between Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia for many generations.

Even today, a sizeable population still live in wooden houseboats or stilt huts built atop coral reefs near Semporna's islands.

A great number have given up their nomadic lifestyle to settle permanently on land in search of greater stability. These people are known as the Bajau Darat.

Despite this, many still retain their gypsy-esque lifestyle and the number of Bajau Laut living around Semporna is estimated to be upwards of 3000.

Lifestyle

A 2010 study sanctioned by Universiti Malaya Sabah found that the sea gypsies rarely, if ever, set foot on land.

When they do spend the occasional night or two on solid ground, they often report feeling 'landsick'.

Preferring the sea, they would only go ashore for business. This may include selling their catches, collecting fresh water for drinking or wood for making boats and as well, to bury the dead. Most would return to their boats by nightfall.

Occupation & skills

The sea gypsies are exceptional free divers. Many have mastered the art of free diving to depths of well over 20m while holding their breath for several minutes. All this as they hunt for fish, lobsters, sea cucumbers ( tripang) and other marine life.

Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they earn their living solely based on the ocean's resources.

Apart from being excellent at fishing and diving, they are also skilled at constructing pile houses and boats called lepa.

Beautifully decorated, technicolour lepa boats feature in the popular Regatta Lepa festival.

Status

Before Mabul Island and the area surrounding Darvel Bay, including the now world-famous Pulau Sipadan, was developed into a hub for eco-tourism during the 1980s, the islands were mostly left untouched.

Back then, the only occupants were a handful of families from the Bajau and Suluk ethnic groups. Today, the area has transformed into a bustling tourist destination attracting divers and holiday-goers from the world over.

However, the plight of the sea gypsies has remained largely unchanged. They have always been, and still are, 'stateless' people. According to the United Nations, there are more than 10 million stateless people in the world.

Most are not afforded citizenship status by either Malaysia, Philippines or Indonesia, as they have been deemed to reside in the waters of the Sulu and Celebes Sea, and not strictly on land owned by any of the countries.

As a result, most of their children do not have access to a formal education system, as it is a requirement for students to have birth certificates and for both their parents to possess national identity cards.

Find out more about the islands of Tun Sakaran Marine Park, where most of the Sea Gypsies in the area are based.

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The Bajau Laut are known as 'Sea Gypsies' due to their nomadic, seafaring way of life They may be found in Mabul, Bohey Dulang, Sibuan, Maiga, Mantabuan, Selakan & Omadal The Regatta Lepa is a popular annual festival celebrating their wonderful customs and traditions The sea gypsies of Sabah, Malaysia.

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Article: The Incredible Bajau Laut ‘Sea Nomads’

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Article: The Incredible Bajau Laut ‘Sea Nomads’

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Bajau catch stingrays with nets and spears, using the tail section to make a yellow sting ray curry in Torosiaje, Indonesia.

In addition to the nets and lines traditionally used for fishing, the Bajau use a handmade ‘pana’ for spearing their catch.

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Environment

The Bajau Laut people are perhaps the most remarkable community in South East Asia. Living their entire lives on the sea, this group of 'sea nomads' floating around the South-Western Indonesian and Filipino waters have inhabited amazing villages built on stilts in the middle of the ocean for centuries.

Due to the increasing threat to marine life in the ocean, many of the Bajau people have had to retire their adventurous ways and settle permanently on land. Although numbers are diminishing, many still call the ocean home and live on boats known as lepa-lepa. These guys are expert in free diving, known for going into improbable depths underwater in search of dinner with handmade goggles and spear guns.

These beautiful pictures taken by James Morgan documents their fascinating lives, portraying their intimate understanding of the ocean waters and their unity with nature.

Life at Sea

Bajau catch stingrays with nets and spears, using the tail section to make a yellow sting ray curry in Torosiaje, Indonesia

In addition to the nets and lines traditionally used for fishing, the Bajau use a handmade 'pana' for spearing their catch.

Amja Kasim Derise cooking dinner at home on his traditional lepa lepa boat. The back of the boat is used for cooking, the middle for sleeping and the front for fishing. Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Life is simple and beautiful for the Bajau children

Home made goggles made from bits and pieces of drift wood or shipwreck

And of course.. the home-made sunscreen too

Compressor diving, often in conjunction with cyanide fishing, remains a common practice amongst the Bajau Laut despite being unsustainable, illegal and highly dangerous.

Catch of the Day

The Bajau still build their mosques over the ocean and practice a syncretic belief system that allows for a deep reverence for the ocean and the spirits that are said to inhabit it. Torosiaje, Indonesia.

Night time prayers at a mosque on stilts over the ocean.

Pak Usrin demonstrates how to make a fertiliser bomb. However, he assured that he stopped bombing reefs back in 2005. Today he gets paid through Reef Check Indonesia to protect his local coral environment.

Ibu Hanisa lost her hands and the sight in one eye when a homemade fertiliser bomb went off in her house.

Pak Lapoli demonstrates using cyanide to catch grouper for the live reef fish trade.

Hand Fishing

Open waters of Bajau community. Borneo, Indonesia
Rehahn Photography

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No Nationality, No Fixed Home, No Money - The Incredible Bajau Laut 'Sea Nomads' | WowShack

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The Bajau Laut people are perhaps the most remarkable community in South East Asia. Living their entire lives on the sea, this group of 'sea nomads' floating around the South-Western Indonesian and Filipino waters have inhabited amazing villages built on stilts in the middle of the ocean for centuries.

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1. Tayum (Porcupine Sea)

known as the porcupines living in the sea

Seafood has become a favorite food of the traditional East Coast Sabah Bajau.

The flesh is yellow like turmeric coloured slightly.

They are delicious eaten alone or eaten with rice as a relish.

2. Kahanga

a traditional food Bajau tribe of the East coast of Sabah.

delicious eaten with "sambal" (hot sauce) or eaten with rice.

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Keypoints from article:
1. Putu or Piutu
2. Lato
2. Seaweed.
3. Umai

4. Sliced young mangoes

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Beyond Boundaries : Food, Travel, Lifestyle, Culture and Events

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Written by @Lan(Photos by curiostraveller.com)
Thought of the day-"Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living."-Miriam Beard
In the east part of Sabah, particularly in Semporna, the Bajau people, Putu and Lato are inseparable. Some of them have moved to Kota Kinabalu city bringing along their tradition which includes, Putu and Lato. Both are staple food of theirs, a must in their diet. There's only one way to know what Putu and Lato tastes like, eat em'! If you are an adventurous person, gastronomically speaking, head to Kota Kinabalu's Filipino Market. We went. We consumed that Putu and Lato. This is our story, in regard to that particular experience.

Filipino market is located right in Kota Kinabalu City and I did wrote an article about it (Here is the LINK). Majority of the food sellers in Filipino Market are Muslims so for the Muslim Visitors, there is little to worry about. It's one hectic market I say, with sellers trying to get passers by to come to their tent. There's one section in Filipino Market that concentrates on cooked food and barbecued seafood. In that section alone, there are about 4 stalls (tents) that serves Putu and Lato. If you do come here, pick the cleanest stall and you will be alright.

We wander around till there's this young lady at stall number 2 invited us to have a look at the food display. "My name is Rina, please have a look"she said. We immediately obliged. It was their food layout that impressed us. It's colorful and amazingly neat. The layout was open to the elements but there's not even a single fly. That was enough to convince us. Our eyes were on that 4 colorful dishes, sliced and diced tomatoes, young mangoes, seaweed, onion and many more. The colors made us curious. We need to know what those 4 types of dishes tastes like.

Our goal was to consume Putu and Lato. I told Rina about our intention. "We want to have Putu and Lato" I said and she smiled, politely asked us to take our preferred seat. We did with that high level of anxiety, worrying if we will be able to have that Putu and Lato pass down the throat. We were just about to sit down when Rina start to explain each of the 4 dishes that we were looking at. She told us that none of the 4 are Putu and Lato. That 4 dishes are to complement Putu and Lato. Alright, lesson learned. Rina went ahead with her explanation while we were trying to digest that information. It was kind of attending a cooking course.

Rina said the first dish is easy to make. It consists of sliced Tomatoes, Red Chili and Onions (I guess that's more than 1 unit each, pardon me for not asking). The next thing to do is to mix all that ingredients and squeeze some lime onto it. "It gives that sour taste" Rina said. A pinch of salt for taste and mix the whole thing again.

This is part of seaweed and cut into desired length, topped with sliced onion, red chili and tomato. Rina told me that no cooking process is required, it's best eaten in its raw state.

Then there's the Umai. It's a dish consists of sliced raw fish with mixture of onion, chilies, salt and lime juice. The Kadazan people refer it as Hinava while that Umai term actually refers to the Sarawak's Melanau version. It's close to the Latin America's ceviche.

The fourth dish is sliced young mangoes and nothing is added onto it. It's already sour in taste and there is no need to give it any dressing whatsoever. Rina told me it's best to keep the texture as it is, minimizing any moist as the mangoes are already watery. She went to the next stall and she came back with something that looks like small grapes.

Introducing Lato, the name given by the Bajau Laut people. It's Sea Grapes Seaweed. Some named it as Green Caviar. The scientific name is Caulerpa Lentillifera. The best way to consume it, in its raw state but some people prefer splashing drops of vinegar onto it. Rina told us that there's no need to do that as the 4 dishes that will complement Putu and Lato are already sour in taste.

Then there's Putu. It's made of boiled cassava, meticulously spread onto sort of plastic wrap, rolled and steamed again! Putu is best to have with Lato as it sides or other Bajau traditional food such as Sagol, Kima, Tehek-tehek and Tayum. For this visit, Rina told me that we're to have this Putu with Lato that will be mixed with all that 4 dishes mentioned earlier. The degree of our curiosity increased!

When we were just about to sit down again, Rina invited us to come over to the desk where she normally prepares all ingredients for her customers. On the serving plate, she mixed all that 4 colorful dishes. She told us that the serving varies according to the number of diners. In our case, it's for two person and it's about RM3 (USD0.69), excluding the Lato and Putu.

She apply the dressing onto the mixed dishes. That dressing is quite thick in texture and black in color. She generously poured about 5-6 spoons of that dressing/gravy and she told me it's made of lime juice, shrimp paste, thick soy sauce, bird eye chilies, salt and sugar.

Rina put that Lato (The Sea Grapes Seaweed) on top of that mixed 4 dishes with its gravy. She reminded me to mix all the things in the plate. "That way, you get the best of the best" she said. "Enjoy that popping sound when you eat that Sea Grapes Seaweed!" she added.

Overall, I say it's one spicy and sour dish. There's generous amount of lime juice and there's the sliced young mangoes as well. Bird eye chilies gave that sharp spicy taste. Simply put, quite pungent. Rina taught me to consume the dish the same way the Bajau people eat it. A small portion of Putu, mix it with some of the dish in the blue plate, eat it! We did and while it's sour and spicy, gradually, we both like it. Will we go for a second in the near future? Absolutely yes. Upon learning that we have interest in consuming the dish soon, Rina insist us to have it with barbecued seafood!

I wonder what is it like to have Putu, Lato and that 4 mixed dishes with the barbecued seafood such as Lobster, Prawns, Squid and Fish. For now, we both are still curious and surely we have to re-visit Rina's stall to try it. How much was the price for our dish in the first visit? It's cheap, RM5 (USD1.15). When we were about to leave her stall, she informed us that apart form the barbecued seafood, she also sells raw seafood, meant to be cooked whenever there is demand. Now, that's interesting! We must come back here again soon!

In need to have the same experience? Head to:

Filipino Market
(Opposite Le Meridien Hotel)
Cooked/Barbecued food section, Stall Number 2 (Look for Rina)
Jalan Tun Fuad Stephen
88000 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

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Eating Putu & Lato @ Filipino Market, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

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Written by @Lan (Photos by curiostraveller.com) Thought of the day-"Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living."-Miriam Beard In the east part of Sabah, particularly in Semporna, the Bajau people, Putu and Lato are inseparable.

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News Article: Tehe-tehe rice: A Bajau Laut specialty

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News Article: Tehe-tehe rice: A Bajau Laut specialty

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Keypoints from the article:

1. Nasi Tehe-tehe or sea urchin (sea hedgehog) rice is a special food for the Bajau Laut or sea gypsy community here.

2. Tehe-tehe rice could be eaten raw, or cooked and eaten with putu or steamed tapioca.

3. Tehe-tehe which is one of the basic foods of the Bajau Laut community.

4. The tehe-tehe rice commonly sold at the local market.

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SEMPORNA, Feb 20 - Nasi Tehe-tehe or sea urchin (sea hedgehog) rice is a special food for the Bajau Laut or sea gypsy community here.

Romzi Bilgari, 35, said tehe-tehe rice could be eaten raw, or cooked and eaten with putu or steamed tapioca.

"The round shell of the sea urchin serves as a small pot to cook the rice," he told Bernama here recently.

He said tehe-tehe which is one of the basic foods of the Bajau Laut community must be boiled first to 'soften' its spines for easier removal.

"Its entrails will be removed and the inner part of the shell washed to remove any remaining discards and to ensure that the rice being cooked in the shell will not smell," he said.

He said his wife had mastered the art of preparing the rice mixed with a pinch of salt and sugar and some ginger in the shell.

"To enhance the taste, other types of seafood such as squid and prawn which are finely sliced are added into the rice," he said.

Romzi said the shell would be covered with coconut leaves to prevent the rice from spilling out while being cooked for half an hour.

He said the shallow waters off Semporna's coral reefs and Pulau Mabul were very conducive for the breeding of tehe-tehe, which are sold at RM15 for 10 pieces with the value increasing, depending on size.

"The tehe-tehe rice commonly sold at the local market is not only popular with residents. Foreign tourists are also interested to try them out," he said. - Bernama

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Tehe-tehe rice: A Bajau Laut specialty | Malay Mail

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SEMPORNA, Feb 20 - Nasi Tehe-tehe or sea urchin (sea hedgehog) rice is a special food for the Bajau Laut or sea gypsy community here. Romzi Bilgari, 35, said tehe-tehe rice could be eaten raw, or cooked and eaten with putu or steamed tapioca. "The round shell of the sea urchin serves as a small...

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National Geographic: Diving for Dinner With the Sea Gypsies

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National Geographic: Diving for Dinner With the Sea Gypsies

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They cook coral fish at the stern, over an open fire. They freedive to hunt fish and get scallops or sea cucumbers. At low tide on the full moon, they collect sea urchins.

A coral fish is speared by a Bajau fisherman. The Bajau free dive, mostly catching coral fish. Fish such as tuna live in waters too deep to be hunted.

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Matthieu Paley's visual food diary tacks from the steamy jungle of the Bolivian Amazon to the crystal waters of the Sulu Sea in Malaysia, Borneo. Over the coming weeks, we will be taking you with us as Paley travels the globe on assignment for National Geographic in search of our ancestral ties to the food we eat.

Water, water everywhere, lapping at your house. Your house is your boat. The ocean is your food source, and it's the bluest kind of blue. You are a true Bajau.

I am on a search to find people who live almost exclusively of the food they get in the ocean. And after much debate, I have set my eyes on the Bajau, also known as Sea Gypsies. I am a real water baby, so this assignment is really exciting for me. I fell in love with the ocean early on. As a teenager living in rainy Normandy, my room was plastered with Hawaiian windsurfing posters; Robby Naish was my living god. Nowadays, whenever I am home in my adopted Turkish village on the Aegean Sea, I am glued to my WindGuru app-checking the wind forecast for ideal kitesurfing conditions. The feeling of freedom, far out in the ocean, is addictive. I always felt that my heart is out at sea and my head lost somewhere on a cold pass up in the Himalaya-due west of Nanga Parbat, to be precise.

By now, my editor Pamela Chen and I are getting a better grasp at what we are aiming at, as far as images go. Color themes are becoming apparent, emerging as a way to tie the images together. But I am also striving to photograph the human body in connection to the food that sustains it. I like this concept. Photographing the act of eating is not always very appetizing, and it's almost too expected. I want something else ...

It's a strange bit of theatre. Tarumpit's body is lying across his dugout canoe. One of his feet is tucked into a cool orange handmade fin which is slowly propelling him. His left arm, stretched out into the water, helps him to keep his balance. He is wearing an old diving mask. He pushes forward slowly, head half submerged, gauging the depth and scanning the bottom of the sea. He is on a hunt. He takes a breath, and I wonder if he has seen something. I am almost as bare as he is, trying to catch up in the water next to him.

My camera is heavily dressed though, snugly fitted into an underwater housing. It's the first time I am doing underwater photography and I have borrowed my seven year-old son's mask, much to his pride. I love mixing a physical exercise-swimming-with photography. Tarumpit leans up, takes off his shirt and grabs his spear. I check my camera settings nervously, holding on to his canoe. This is it ... the first dive. He steps out and keeps his eyes firmly on the bottom. There he goes. I take a deep breath and follow behind.

His jeans, rippling in the water with every kick, match the blue landscape. Out of a hole glides an octopus. Suddenly, it is lifted off the bottom, a spear in its lower body. The tentacles touch Tarumpit's feet. There is the connection I was looking for. I am shooting frantically, enveloped in a cloud of black ink. We swim back up for air. Tarumpit climbs in his canoe and decompresses his ears, leaning his head back, looking up.

On the way home, we pass a larger boat, a lepa-lepa. This is the original Bajau dwelling, the real deal I am told. Women give birth on the boat. Boys become men. They cook coral fish at the stern, over an open fire. They freedive to hunt fish and get scallops or sea cucumbers. At low tide on the full moon, they collect sea urchins. Their entire lives play out on their boats. I get on board and sit at the prow. Two teenagers, Alpaida and Asmania, join me. They have brought a tiny vanity case and giggle while I photograph them studying themselves in the mirror.

Most Bajau living on lepa-lepa are stateless. They navigate on the Sulu Sea, doing coastal sailing between islands of the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Because of this lifestyle, they cannot get proper identification papers. If they get sick, hospitals on land won't treat them and they might get arrested.

Tarumpit's family home is a bamboo hut on stilts, a three-minute canoe ride from shore. There are 15 or so huts, scattered evenly. In the background, a volcano, covered in lush vegetation, stands proudly. At low tide, you can walk between these huts, the water up to your neck. There is a ballet of canoes going between houses, children chattering aboard-canoes parked in front of the houses, some half filled with water; canoes with men returning from morning hunts. We "park" and climb up the ladder.

In the quiet breeze, this house is a charming haven: the whispering waves, the creaking of the poles, the baby sleeping in a hammock hanging from the ceiling and Tarumpit, cleaning the octopus. The cracks in the wooden floor create lines of fluorescent blue. Sitting cross-legged, a boy drops a line through one of them. The lure is made out of a piece of flounder skin. He hooks an eel that twists around like a snake and somehow gets away, sliding back to freedom, into the ocean.

Next, Matthieu's travels take him to the Karakoram Mountains in Pakistan, where he joins a group of women gathering firewood.

"The Evolution of Diet", featured in the September issue, is part of National Geographic 's special eight-month "Future of Food" series. Follow Paley on Twitter, Instagram, and his website.

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We Are What We Eat: Diving for Dinner With the Sea Gypsies

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Matthieu Paley's visual food diary tacks from the steamy jungle of the Bolivian Amazon to the crystal waters of the Sulu Sea in Malaysia, Borneo. Over the coming weeks, we will be taking you with us as Paley travels the globe on assignment for National Geographic in search of our ancestral ties to the food [...]

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The map of Java showing the distribution of the Javenese community

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The map of Java showing the distribution of the Javenese community

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(Image retrieved from Google)

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Javanese cuisine is largely divided into three major groups:

1. Central Javanese cuisine
2. East Javanese cuisine
3. Common Javanese dishes

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Javanese cuisine is the cuisine of Javanese people, a major ethnic group in Indonesia, more precisely the province of Central Java, Yogyakarta and East Java. Though the cuisine of Sumatra is known for its spiciness with notable Indian and Arabic influences, Javanese cuisine is more indigenously developed and noted for its simplicity. Some of Javanese dishes demonstrate foreign influences, most notably Chinese.[citation needed ]

Some Indonesians perceive Javanese cuisine as sweeter compared to other Indonesian dishes, because of the liberal use of gula jawa ( palm sugar) or kecap manis (sweet soy sauce). Javanese food is categorized into Central and East Javanese food; both simple and non-spicy food, though Central Javanese food tends to be sweeter.

In a wider sense, Javanese cuisine might also refer to the cuisine of the whole people of Java Island, Indonesia; which also include Sundanese in West Java, Betawi people in Jakarta and Madurese on Madura Island off East Java. These ethnic groups have their own distinctive cuisines.

Javanese cuisine is largely divided into three major groups:

Central Javanese cuisine

East Javanese cuisine

Common Javanese dishes

There are similarities in these cuisines but the main differences lie in the flavors. Central Javanese cuisine tend to be sweeter and less spicy, while East Javanese cuisine uses less sugar and more chili, possibly influenced by Madurese cuisine or Indian cuisine.

Javanese cooking tradition has a long history, derived from Javanese indigenous elements, and along its history, was enrichen by foreign influences - including Indian, Chinese and European influences. Ancient dishes and recipes was mentioned in numbers of Javanese prasasti (inscription) and modern historians has been succeed on deciphered some of them. The inscriptions from Medang Mataram era circa 8th to 10th century mentioned several ancient dishes, among others are Hadangan Harang (water buffalo minced meat satay, similar with today Balinese sate lilit), Hadangan Madura (water buffalo meat with sweet palm sugar), and Dundu Puyengan (eel seasoned with lemon basil). Ancient beverages include Nalaka Rasa ( sugarcane juice), Jati Wangi (jasmine beverage), and Kinca (tamarind juice). Also various Kuluban (boiled vegetables served in spices, similar with today ) and Phalamula (boiled yams and tubers served with liquid palm sugar).

Rice is an important food crop in Java, dating back to ancient times. The Javanese are known to revere Dewi Sri as the Rice Goddess. Steamed rice is the common staple food, and is served at every meal. , a cone-shaped yellow rice is essential in slametan, Javanese traditional ceremonies. Rice can be processed into or , or cooked in coconut milk as or colored with turmeric as nasi kuning (yellow rice). Other sources of carbohydrate such as (dried cassava) is sometimes mixed into rice or replaces rice. is usually consumed by poor commoners during hard times when rice is scarce. Tubers such as yam, taro, and sweet potato are consumed as snacks in between meals. Bread and grains other than rice are uncommon, although noodles and potatoes are often served as accompaniments to rice. Potatoes are often boiled then mashed, shaped into discs, spiced, coated in beaten eggs and fried into . Wheat noodles, bihun ( rice vermicelli), and are influences of Chinese cuisine. The Javanese adopted these ingredients and made them their own by adding kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) and local spices to create , bakmi rebus, and bihun goreng. Vegetables feature heavily in Javanese cuisine, notably in vegetable-heavy dishes such as , lotek, and .

Coconut milk, peanut sauce, gula jawa ( palm sugar), asem jawa ( tamarind), , (shrimp paste), shallot, garlic, turmeric, galangal, ginger, and chili are common ingredients and spices that can be found in Javanese cuisine. Freshwater fishes such as carp, tilapia, gourami and catfish are popular, while seafood such as tuna, red snapper, wahoo, ray, anchovy, shrimp, squid, and various salted fish are popular in coastal Javanese cities. Chicken, goat meat, mutton and beef are popular meats in Javanese cuisine. Next to common farmed chicken, the ayam kampung or free-range chicken, is popular and valued for its leaner, more natural flavors. Almost 90% of Javanese are Muslim, and consequently, much of Javanese cuisine omits pork. However, in small enclaves of Catholic Javanese population around Muntilan, Magelang, Yogyakarta, and Klaten, pork might be consumed. Few ethnic groups in Indonesia use pork and other sources of protein considered under Muslim dietary laws in their cuisine, most prominently Balinese cuisine, Indonesian Chinese cuisine, and Manado cuisine.

Compared to the spicy and curry-like cuisine of Sumatra that is heavily influenced by Indian cuisine, Javanese cuisine is most notably influenced by Chinese[citation needed ] and European with some local touch. Javanese cuisine in different areas show different foreign influences. For example, Chinese influences is prevalent in Semarang, Yogyakarta, and Cirebon; Indian and Arabic influences in Surabaya, Lamongan, and Gresik; and European influences in Solo and Malang.

Javanese cuisine may also have contributed and influenced foreign cuisines. Javanese , for example, has influenced the South African bobotie dish. Because of the dispersion of Javanese people outside of Indonesia, the Javanese cuisine has influenced the cuisine of Johor in Malaysia, Singapore and the cuisine of Suriname. The influence of Javanese cuisine has contributed significantly to the food of Johor. Malaysian-Javanese dishes such as nasi ambeng, , , tempe, and sambal tempe are popular in Malaysia.

Javanese households usually purchase fresh ingredients from the local market every morning, cook and serve them in the late morning to be mainly consumed for lunch. The leftovers are stored to be heated again for family dinner. Other than homemade family dishes, Javanese cuisine are served from humble street side carts and s, to fancy restaurants in five-star hotels. Small family-run s are the budget options for street food, serving everything from family dishes for full meals, or snack foods. The popular simple Javanese cuisine establishments are the budget food of Warung Tegal, which are mainly established by Javanese from Tegal city, and the Angkringan street side carts in Yogyakarta and Solo that sold cheap sego kucing and various wedang (hot beverages).

In Javanese tradition, it is common to dine in lesehan style, which is sitting cross-legged on the mat while dining in front of short-legged table. It was started as a warung lesehan street food dining popular among tourists along Malioboro street in Yogyakarta. Today, Javanese lesehan foodstalls can be found in several cities, including Surakarta, Semarang and Jakarta.

The food in Central Java is influenced by the two ancient kingdoms of Yogyakarta and Surakarta (also commonly known as Solo). Most of Central Javanese dishes are indigenously developed, however in coastal cities such as Semarang and Pekalongan, notable Chinese influences can be seen, such as (spring roll) and . While in royal court of Surakarta, the European influences can be seen, such as bistik Jawa and selat Solo. Many of Central Java-specific dishes contain the names of the area where the food first became popular, for example:

Semarang: fried or steamed spring rolls. The filling varies, but consists mainly of meat and bamboo shoots. It is served with sweet fermented soybean sauce () or sweet garlic sauce. Another accompaniment is acar (Indonesian-style sweet and sour cucumber pickle) and chili.

Soto Bangkong: a chicken soup in a small personal serving; mixed with rice, perkedel, and satay of cockles, chicken intestines, and quail eggs. Named after Bangkong crossroad in Semarang.

Wingko Babat: a cake made largely of glutinous rice and desiccated coconut, toasted and sold warm. Although it originated from Babat, East Java, it is popular in Semarang. Care should be taken to differentiate between Babat and babat. Babat is a city in East Java, part of the North Coast Road and where wingko Babat came from, while babat is tripe, an ingredient often used for Indonesian cuisine in general.

Soto Jepara: soto is a common Indonesian soup, usually infused with turmeric, and can be made with chicken, beef, or mutton. The version from Jepara, a Central Javanese town, is made of chicken.

Opor panggang: a typical from Jepara. It is a kind of but with distinctive flavor, since the chicken used in this dish is first roasted in a clay cauldron.

Kelan Antep: dish made from lean meat, ginger, bay leaves, red onion, garlic, red chili, tamarind, sugar, and others.

Horok-horok: steamed corn starch. After being cooked, corn starch is then poured into jars and stirred with a comb. So although chewy and tough, it is shaped in small granules resembling Styrofoam. To add flavor, a pinch of salt can be added. This dish can be served as an accompaniment to meatballs, gado-gado, pecel, or satay kikil (beef tendon).

Hoyok-hoyok: also called oyol-oyol, is a dish made from tapioca flour mixed with water and oil, then served with extra grated coconut. Hoyok-hoyok is a sweet version of horok-horok.

Jepara shrimp soup: similar to shrimp soup in general. This version of soup use shrimp broth and fried shrimp, also raw crushed chili. This soup is delicious eaten while still hot or warm.

Jepara pangsit soup: considered as a fusion cuisine, this dish is a blend of local and foreign cuisines, i.e. Javanese, Dutch, and Chinese. The pangsit (dumpling) in this soup is not like the dumpling we know, but rather in the form of a clear soup with shrimp egg rolls. This is one of the favorite dishes of R.A. Kartini.

Bongko mento: originated in Jepara palace, it is a snack wrapped in a banana leaf. Consists of omelet filled with sauteed shredded chicken breast mixed with oyster mushrooms, glass noodles, and coconut milk.

Lontong krubyuk: similar to dishes in general, this dish consists of rice cake served with shredded chicken meat stews doused in bakso soup and garnished with a mixture of half-cooked bean sprouts and sliced celery. What distinguishes this from other lontong dishes, this dish is served with a lot of soup.

Singit: beef shank cooked in coconut milk, soy sauce, salt, red chili, garlic, onion, and brown sugar, over low heat until the sauce thickens.

Semur Jepara: made of meat, salt, pepper, nutmeg powder, soy sauce, cooking oil, and others.

Sayur pepaya Jepara: a vegetable stew usually served in the afternoon. The main ingredients are young papaya, coconut milk, beef stew, and others.

Sayur asem Jepara: similar to sayur asem Jakarta.

Sayur betik: a vegetable stew, using young unripe papaya and beef trimming as the main ingredients.

Laksa Jepara: made of chicken fillet, banana shrimp, chicken stock, coconut milk, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, salt, sugar, oil, and other ingredients.

Sayur keluak ayam

Kagape kambing: a dish made of goat meat. Easily found during Eid al-Adha.

Bakso Karimunjawa: meatballs soup made from fish, instead of beef or chicken.

Tongseng cumi: tongseng made of calamari or squid, instead of goat or chicken.

Rempah Jepara: a dish made from grated coconut, fish, and others.

Bontosan: a dish of mashed grouper or mackerel mixed with rice powder and shaped into spindles, wrapped in banana leaves or plastic, steamed, then thickly sliced, and served with sauce or gravy. Bontosan is actually the pre-dried form of fish crackers. It can also be served after being shallow-fried until the outside is crisp and golden brown. Similar in taste to .

Sate sapi Jepara: satay made of cow meat mixed with spices typical of Jepara.

Sate kikil: a satay dish made of kikil (beef tendon), also called satay cecek. Usually served with horok-horok.

Pecel ikan laut panggang: roasted saltwater fish served with coconut milk sauce.

Tempong: uncooked dried anchovy, shaped like fritter.

Soto Kudus: soto is a common Indonesian soup usually infused with turmeric, and can be made with chicken, beef, or mutton. The version from Kudus, a Central Javanese town, is made of chicken.

Jenang Kudus: A sweetmeat made from rice flour, palm sugar, and coconut milk.

Nasi Gandul is beef served on white steamed rice poured with spicy savoury soup, served on banana leaf.

Soto Kemiri is a common Javanese chicken soup spiced with candlenut.

Petis Runting is a kind of gulai typical culinary of Pati. Soupy but somewhat viscous, made from a rather coarse rice flour roasted with goat meat and balungan or goat bones, including bone marrows, and usually enjoyed while it hot to avoid the fatty bone marrow coagulating.

Sayur Tempe Bosok is a kind of curry-soup made from stinky over-ripe (almost rotten) tempeh. Popularly consumed during the rainy season against the cold.

Bandeng Presto is a pressure cooked milkfish that soften the finer fish bones. The pressure cooking also help the spices to seep into the flesh of milkfish perfectly.

Sayur Mangut is a hot and spicy Ariid catfish head cooked in coconut milk.

Gudeg Yogya: a traditional food from Yogyakarta and Central Java made from young unripe nangka (jack fruit) boiled for several hours with palm sugar and coconut milk. This is usually accompanied by (chicken in coconut milk), telur pindang (hard boiled egg stew), and (spicy beef skin and tofu stew). Gudeg from Yogyakarta has a unique sweet and savory taste, and is drier and more reddish than other regional variants because of the addition of Javanese teak leaf.

(or krecek or sambal goreng krechek): a traditional spicy beef skin dish made from seasoned krupuk kulit (beef skin crackers). Krechek is usually served as a side dish together with gudeg.

: chicken stewed in coriander, garlic, candlenut, and coconut water, then deep-fried until crispy. Served with and raw vegetables.

Sego kucing: rice with small side dishes.

and bakpia Pathok: a sweet pastry filled with sugared mung bean paste, derived from the Chinese pastry. A well-known bakpia-producing area is Pathok near Jalan Malioboro, where bakpia Pathok is sold.

Kipo: derived from the Javanese question Iki opo? ("What is this?"), a small sweet snack from Kotagede made of glutinous rice flour and coconut milk dough filled with grated coconut and palm sugar.

Ronde (wedhang ronde): a hot Javanese dessert of glutinous rice balls stuffed with peanut paste, floating in a hot and sweet ginger and lemongrass tea.

Angsle (wedhang angsle): a hot soupy dessert of sago pearls, pre-cooked glutinous rice and mung beans, putu mayang (brightly colored, noodle-shaped flour cakes), and fried peanuts, covered in hot and sweet coconut milk.

: a rice dish cooked in coconut milk and chicken broth, served with meat and vegetable side dishes.

Tongseng: a strongly spiced curry of bone-in mutton, which is quickly stir-fried at the point of sale with vegetables added.

Tengkleng: goat ribs and offal in a curry-like soup, similar to gule kambing, but with a lighter and thinner soup.

Solo: a beef and vegetable soup. Some versions also have noodles.

Solo: bakso literally means meatballs, made of beef, and served in boiling hot soup with mung bean-thread noodles, green vegetables, shredded cabbage, and various sauces (chili, tomato). This version from Solo has super-sized meatballs, the size of tennis balls. Also known as Bakso Tenis. is a Chinese-influenced dish, but has become a popular snack throughout Indonesia.

Bistik Jawa: Javanese beef steak, a European-influenced dish from Solo.

Selat Solo: a salad consisting of stewed beef, lettuce, carrot, green bean, and potato chips or French fries in sweet spiced dressing.

Sate buntel (lit: wrapped satay): Minced fatty beef or goat meat, encased in caul fat and wrapped around a bamboo skewer then grilled. The size of this satay is quite large, very similar to a Middle Eastern kebab. After being grilled on charcoal, the meat is separated from the skewer, cut into bite-size chunks, then served in sweet soy sauce and merica (pepper).

Solo: a pancake made of coconut milk, mixed with a little rice flour as thickener. Srabi can be served plain or with toppings, such as sliced banana, chopped jackfruit, chocolate sprinkle (muisjes), or cheese.

Refers to Javanese cultural region of Western Central Java bordering West Java, including Banyumas, Tegal, Brebes, Cilacap, Kebumen, and Purwokerto regencies.

Sate Tegal or Sate Balibul: juvenile (five-month-old) goat satay from Tegal, noted for its tender meat.

Sate Ambal: a satay variant from Ambal, Kebumen, Central Java. This satay uses ayam kampung (free-range chicken). The sauce is not made from peanuts, but rather ground tempeh, chili, and spices. The chicken is marinated for about two hours to make the meat tastier. This satay is served with .

Tempeh mendoan: fried battered tempeh from Banyumas.

Sroto Sokaraja: a variant of soto from Sokaraja, Banyumas.

Purwodadi: frogs' legs cooked in fermented soybean () soup.

Madu mongso: a sweetmeat made from fermented black glutinous rice, cooked in coconut milk and sugar. It is sticky and very sweet, and comes wrapped in corn husk.

Bakmoy: small cubes of fried tofu, chicken, and boiled egg served with chicken broth and relish made from sweet soy sauce.

The East Javanese cuisine is largely influenced by Madurese cuisine - Madura being a major producer of salt, hence the omission of sugar in many dishes. Many of the East Javanese dishes are also typically Madurese, such as soto Madura and Madura, usually sold by Madurese settlers. Notable Arabic and Indian cuisine influence also can be found such in the coastal cities of Tuban, Gresik, Surabaya, Lamongan, and Sidoarjo, due to the large number of Arabic descendants in these cities. Although there are many dishes with town names attached to them, local versions of these are available in every town. The most popular town-associated dishes are:

Madiun: a salad of boiled vegetables, dressed in a peanut-based spicy sauce. It is usually served as an accompaniment to rice. A peanut or dried fish/shrimp cracker (rempeyek) is served on the side. Not to be confused with , which is deep-fried local catfish served with .

: a dark beef soup, served with mung bean sprouts and the ubiquitous . The dark (almost black) color comes from the kluwak (Pangium edule) nuts.

Rujak cingur: a marinated cow snout or lips and noses (cingur), served with boiled vegetables and shrimp crackers. It is then dressed in a sauce made of caramelized fermented shrimp paste (), peanuts, chili, and spices. It is usually served with , a boiled rice cake. Rujak cingur is considered traditional food of Surabaya in East Java.

Semanggi: a salad made of boiled semanggi (M. crenata) leaves that grow in paddy fields. It is dressed in a spicy peanut sauce.

Soto Madura: a turmeric-based beef and offal soup, served with boiled egg slices, and .

Madura: originating on the island of Madura, near Java, is a famous variant among Indonesians. Most often made from mutton or chicken, the recipe's main characteristic is the black sauce made from Indonesian sweet soy sauce (kecap manis) mixed with palm sugar (called gula jawa or "Javanese sugar" in Indonesia), garlic, deep fried shallots, peanut paste, petis (a kind of shrimp paste), candlenut, and salt. Chicken Madura satay is usually served in peanut sauce, while the mutton Madura satay is usually served in sweet soy sauce. Sate Madura uses smaller chunks of meat than other variants. It is eaten with rice or rice cakes wrapped in banana/coconut leaves (lontong/ketupat). Raw thinly sliced shallots and plain sambal are often served as condiments.

Malang: bakso literally means meatball. Bakso Malang has more accompaniments, beside the meatball (mostly beef) itself. For example, offal, dumplings (fried or steamed), tahu (tofu, fried or steamed, filled with meat), soun (mung bean threads), and yellow egg noodles. All of these are served in hot beef stock.

Cwie mie: a Chinese-influenced noodle dish, containing boiled and seasoned noodles, topped with pre-cooked minced meat (usually pork or chicken) and boiled wonton. Similar to the Chinese zhajiang mian.

Sate Ponorogo: a variant of satay originating in Ponorogo, a town in East Java. It is made from sliced marinated chicken, served with a sauce made of peanuts and chili, and garnished with shredded shallots, , and lime juice. This variant is unique for the fact that each skewer contains one large piece of chicken, rather than several small cubes. The meat is marinated in spices and sweet soy sauce, in a process called "bacem" and is served with rice or lontong (rice cake). The grill is made from terracotta earthenware with a hole on one side to allow ventilation for the coals. After three months of use, the earthenware grill disintegrates and must be replaced.

Lontong balap: literally means "racing rice cake", which is a dish of rice cakes, fried tofu, and beansprouts, doused in kecap manis and sauce. In the past, lontong balap hawkers carried their wares in a large, heavy metal urn. The heaviness caused them to have to walk really quickly while carrying it, so they looked like they were "racing".

Tahu campur: a beef and offal soup, mixed with fresh vegetables, potatoes, rice cake, and tofu. The secret ingredient is the caramelized fermented shrimp paste () which is mixed in just before serving.

Tahu tek-tek: a dish containing cut-up fried tofu, boiled vegetables (mostly beansprouts), potatoes, drenched in a peanut-based sauce. The sauce has caramelized fermented shrimp pasted (), chili, and garlic.

These are the common Javanese dishes, which can be found throughout Java regardless of the location.

Sate: skewered grilled meat is a common dish in Java. The Javanese variants are sate Tegal, sate Ambal, sate Solo, sate buntel, sate Madura, sate Ponorogo, etc.

Soto: this Indonesian soup dish is also a common dish in Java. The Javanese variants are common soto ayam and soto babat (tripe), soto Kudus, soto Madura, soto Lamongan, etc.

: a rice served in the shape of a conical volcano, usually with rice colored yellow using turmeric. It is an important part of ceremony in Java. Tumpeng served in important events such as birthday, moving house, or other ceremonies. Traditionally, tumpeng is served alongside fried chicken, boiled egg, vegetables, and goat meat on a round plate made from bamboo called besek.

Tempeh: a meat substitute made from soy bean fermented with mold. It is a staple source of protein in Java and popular in the world as an excellent meat substitute for vegetarians.

Gorengan: assorted fritters such as tempeh, tofu, yam, sweet potato, cassava, and chopped vegetables.

: a type of peanut sauce with chili is a common ingredients in Javanese cuisine. It is used in various type of and . It can also be used as stand alone sauce with rice and prawn, egg and vegetables as nasi pecel (pecel rice).

Urap sayur: vegetables in spiced grated coconut dressing.

Lotek: almost identical to , but sweeter. It is similar to pecel, but includes different vegetables as well as boiled egg slices and a garnish of fish or shrimp crackers and emping (Gnetum gnemon L. nut, flattened, dried, and fried into small thin crackers).

Sayur lodeh: assorted vegetables, stewed in coconut milk.

: a traditional Javanese dish of scraped coconut meat mixed with teri (anchovies) and spices, wrapped in a papaya leaf, then boiled in coconut milk.

Botok: a dish made from shredded coconut flesh which has been squeezed of its coconut milk, often mixed with other ingredients such as vegetable or fish, and wrapped in banana leaf and steamed.

: rice with accompaniments, usually some curried vegetable stew (sayur lodeh), a selection of cooked fish or chicken or meat and offal pieces, and a dollop of spicy .

Nasi kuning: similar to or nasi campur, but the rice is cooked in coconut milk and colored bright yellow using turmeric and scented with lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves.

Gule kambing: mutton cooked in a curry-like coconut milk soup.

Tumis sayuran: stir-fried vegetables, usually mixed with chili and a spice paste.

Jajan pasar: several types of shaped and colored flour, rice flour, and glutinous rice flour cakes, sprinkled with desiccated coconut and drizzled with melted palm sugar. Jajan literally means snack, and pasar means market, as this snack is usually found in traditional markets.

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Javanese cuisine is the cuisine of Javanese people, a major ethnic group in Indonesia, more precisely the province of Central Java, Yogyakarta and East Java. Though the cuisine of Sumatra is known for its spiciness with notable Indian and Arabic influences, Javanese cuisine is more indigenously developed and noted for its simplicity.

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Since the Bugis live in Malay Archipelago, much of their cuisine is based on Indonesian and Malaysian influences. Being skilled seafarers and fishers, fish and seafoods are staples in a Bugis diet. Bugis residing in Malaysia or Singapore enjoy Malay-style cuisine while those living in Makassar still enjoy their traditional food. The most famous is coto Makassar, a stew made from the mixture of nuts and spices with beef parts.
Most Bugis are Muslims, so pork or alcohol is almost never part of Bugis style cuisine.

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Keypoints from article:
1. Roti Chapatti or Phulka
2. Puri
3. Parautha.
4. Sabzi and Daal
5. Dahi or Yoghurt
6. Paneer
7. Kheer
8. Pakoras
9. Samosas

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Some of the most common names in Sikh meals are-

1. ROTI or PHULKA: The Roti is made from wholemeal or brown wheat flour and is fairly simple to make. It is flat and round, approximately six inches in diameter and looks like a pancake. The Phylka is a finer version of Roti and is named as such because it bubbles up or puffs up like a saucer-shaped baloon. Chapatti is another name for Roti or Phulka and is not very popular in Punjabi homes, especially among the Sikhs. Puri is yet another type of Roti, which is smaller in size and is deep fried like potato chips.

2. PARAUTHA: A heavier and more nourishing form of roti is called parautha. It is made by folding and rolling of the dough a number of times with or without fillings and is superficially fried in ghee, margarine or vegetable oil. It needs an expert to make a really good parautha. It is the most popular morning snack and is less likely to be eaten in the afternoon or evening..

3. SABZI and DAAL: Whether vegetarian or non-vegetarian, no meal in a Sikh family is complete without either a SABZI (cooked vegetable) or DAAL (cooked pulse) or indeed both.
This is one area where Indian cooking is difficult to match, not only in the variety of Daals and Sabzees but also in their cooking methods. Pulses are like peas and beans of different colours and size and are amongst the most popular dishes because they are cheap, easy to make, tasty and nutritious.

Some of the most common names in this group are-

1. SABZI- cauliflower, cabbage, lady-fingers (Okra), aubergine, peas, green pepper, potato, carrot, turnip, gourd (bitter), spinach, green mustard.

2. DAAL- (Chana or Chholay) Bengal gram and black gram, moong (green lentil), mansoor (red or yellow lentils), mah or urad (black lentil), etc.

4. DAHI or YOGHURT: is an important complimentary item to the Punjabi meal and is usually enriched with other ingredients before serving.

5. PANEER: (specially prepared cheese cubes) when cooked is more tender and tasty than veal and is the most popular non-vegetarian diet.

6. SNACKS and SWEETS: As far as snacks and sweet dishes are concerned Indian cooking is hard to beat. Although the serving of a dessert after a full meal is not regarded as important, a sweet dish like Kheer (rice pudding) is often served as part of the meal.
Many Indian sweets are made of milk, sugar, gram flour and ghee. Some of the popular ones are- RASGULLA, GULAB JAMAN, BARFI, LADDOO, JALLEBI, HALWA, GAJERELLA, DOODH BARE, etc.

Among the snacks the most common ones are-PAKORAS which are quick and simple to make and there are scores of varieties in Pakoras from vegetarian to non-vegetarian. Similarly, SAMOSAS (triangular shaped pastry which envelopes fillings ranging from various vegetables to minced meat) are very popular.

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Some of the most common names in Sikh meals are- ROTI or PHULKA: The Roti is made from wholemeal or brown wheat flour and is fairly simple to make. It is flat and round, approximately six inches in diameter and looks like a pancake.

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Keypoints from article:
1. Chicken Tikka
The chicken is marinated  with spices and yogurt giving it a special taste rare to find.

2. Jalebi sweet
Dessert and sweets which stands out from the rest as it’s the most popular food consume by people. It’s made from wheat flour and sugar syrup.

3. Gajar ka halwa.
This dish is made from carrot, sugar, milk and ghee which is perfect to have as a dessert and certainly nutritious.

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SIKH COMMUNITY IS THE FASTEST GROWING COMMUNITY IN MALAYSIA GETTING VARIOUS PRAISES FROM LOCAL LEADERS AND ARE APART OF THE INDIAN COMMUNITY IN MALAYSIA SIKH PEOPLE HAVE VARIOUS TYPE OF DISHES THAT ARE MOUTH WATERING AND A SHOULD TRY FOR EVERYONE. ONE OF THE BEST DISHES AND THE MOST COMMON ONE IS THE CAPATI.

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The map of east Malaysia showing the distribution of the Iban community

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The map of east Malaysia showing the distribution of the Iban community

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(Image retrieved from Google)

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1. There are cultural distinctions between the province of Yogyakarta, East Java and Central Java.

2. The cuisine of Sumatra is renowned for its characteristic of Indian and Arabic spiciness,

3. Javanese cuisine is noted for its liberal usage of sweet soy sauce (kecap manis) and palm sugar (gula jawa).

5. The foods of Java can be categorized into two divisions:
1. East Java
2. Central Java.
Each division will still serve the same non-spicy and simple dishes, but the cuisine in Central Java is even sweeter than the already sweet cuisine of East Java.

6. There are also many dishes that are common to both East and Central Java. The similarities in the cuisines are mostly in the basic and simple methods of preparation, with the significant differences being in the flavour.

7. Javanese cuisine in the Central province used less hot spices and more sugar, whereas in the Eastern province the foods are prepared a bit spicier and rely less on the sweet ingredients.

8. Examples of Javanese food:
1. Ayam Ungkep
2. Chicken Curry
3. Nasi Gudeg Komplit
4. Soto Ayam

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Javanese cuisine is the foods of one of the most significant ethnic cultures in Indonesia: the Javanese people. The Javanese can be distinctively different from one province to another. There are cultural distinctions between the province of Yogyakarta, East Java and Central Java.

Whereas the cuisine of Sumatra is renowned for its characteristic of Indian and Arabic spiciness, Javanese cuisine has remained more true to its strong ties to the indigenous peoples of Java. Javanese cuisine is today much the same as it has been for centuries, and is remarkably "simple" when you consider how rich and flavorful it is. Still there are subtle foreign influences, perhaps the most recognizable being that of Chinese cuisine.

There is a tendency within other Indonesian countries to regard Javanese cuisine as exceptionally sweet in comparison to their tastes. And there is some credence to that opinion. Javanese cuisine is noted for its liberal usage of sweet soy sauce (kecap manis) and palm sugar (gula jawa). Javanese people definitely have a sweet tooth, and their favorite foods reflect that markedly

Generally speaking, the foods of Java can be categorized into two divisions: East Java and Central Java. Each division will still serve the same non-spicy and simple dishes, but the cuisine in Central Java is even sweeter than the already sweet cuisine of East Java.

There are also many dishes that are common to both East and Central Java. The similarities in the cuisines are mostly in the basic and simple methods of preparation, with the significant differences being in the flavors. Javanese cuisine in the Central province used less hot spices and more sugar, whereas in the Eastern province the foods are prepared a bit spicier and rely less on the sweet ingredients - including not as much palm sugar. Culinary historians often attribute this characteristic of East Javanese cuisine as having been influenced by Indian and Arabic cuisine, as well as the cuisine of Madurese.

So that's just a tad bit of cultural and historical background information. Want more? You can Google it. Let's now get into the real reason you came to this page ... the recipes!

For your convenience, the dishes listed below are hyperlinked to a print-friendly page with the recipe of your clicked-choice on it. Have lots of fun, polish off your sweet tooth, and go now into the delicious world of ...

Ayam Ungkep (Spicy, Twice-Cooked Crispy Chicken)

Chicken Curry (Javanese Style)

Nasi Gudeg Komplit (Sweet Jackfruit Stew with Braised Coconut Chicken and Shrimp Paste Sambal)

Soto Ayam (Javanese Style Chicken Soup)

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Javanese cuisine is the foods of one of the most significant ethnic cultures in Indonesia: the Javanese people. The Javanese can be distinctively different from one province to another. There are cultural distinctions between the province of Yogyakarta, East Java and Central Java.

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1.Buras or Burasa

The process of making Buras
1. Buras is made by steaming the rice until half-cooked. Then cooking further in coconut milk mixed with daun salam (Indonesian bay leaf) and salt until all of the coconut milk is absorbed into the rice. Then the half-cooked coconut milk rice is wrapped inside banana leaves in cylindrical or pillow shapes, secured with strings made from banana leaf fibers (or any kind of string). Usually, two cylinders of burasa are tied together as one. The rice packages are then steamed further until completely cooked.

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2. Konro
Konro is an Indonesian rib soup originatied from Makassarese and Buginese of South Sulawesi.

Usually this soup is made with ribs, such as spare ribs or beef as main ingredient.

The soup is brown-black in color and eaten either with burasa or ketupat cut into bite-size pieces or rice.

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3. Barongko
In the past, Barongko was served as a dessert for the Bugis kings.

It is often presented during traditional events such as circumcision, marriage and thanksgiving.

Barongko is not easy to find in the market.

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Keypoints from article:

1. Pansuh food is iban's traditional food. It simply means the cooking of food or dish in a bamboo stem.

2. Pansoh manok (ayam pansuh) is Iban's famous dish. It is cooked in a bamboo log over an open fire.

3. Tuak
A home-brewed rice wine. The brew has a sweet fragrance and is highly alcoholic.

4.  Tilapia being the most widely cultivated.

5.  There are sago grubs, bamboo clams and temilok (marine worms) to try.

6. The bright yellow, round eggplants and turmeric flowers are also found in Iban foods.

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Journey Article: 12 Mouthwatering Traditional Foods You Need to Try in Java

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Journey Article: 12 Mouthwatering Traditional Foods You Need to Try in Java

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1. Gudeg
2. Nasi Liwet
3. Soto
4. Pecel
5. Gado Gado
6. Serabi
7. Terang Bulan / Martabak Manis
8. Rawon
9. Nasi Timbel
10. Lumpia Semarang
11. Otak Otak
12. Sate

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These are the essential foods to try in Java, Indonesia.

Java may only be Indonesia's fifth largest island by mass, but it's the most populated island in the country. Once dominated by Hindu and Buddhist empires from the 8 th century, the culture shifted to an Islamic sultanate in the 16 th century, followed by the Dutch colonial period. The Javanese ethnic group now makes up the largest population on the island (and the country), residing primarily in Central and East Java. In West Java, you will find Sundanese people, as well as the Betawi people (an ethnic group from Jakarta). The various ethnic groups on the island, along with historical influences contribute to Java's rich culinary traditions. In between exploring Java's temples, crater lakes, and 45 active volcanoes, spend some time exploring the island's fare, starting with these 12 traditional foods.

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12 Mouthwatering Traditional Foods You Need to Try in Java

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Java may only be Indonesia's fifth largest island by mass, but it's the most populated island in the country. Once dominated by Hindu and Buddhist empires from the 8th century, the culture shifted to an Islamic sultanate in the 16th century, followed by the Dutch colonial period.

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Article: Tumpeng in Javanese food culture

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Article: Tumpeng in Javanese food culture

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Tumpeng is one of the traditional foods in Indonesia that has various meaning, symbols, and represent the believe of people in Indonesia, especially among the Javanese tribe. These additional dishes have specific set  that can vary depending on the occasion.

The “cone” form is a symbol of the mountain, where the “unseen” world exist. It is also the right way to express the high respect for the God and it could be the symbol of unity, strength and powerfulness.

THREE KINDS OF TUMPENG
These are 3 kinds of tumpeng and the occasions where those tumpengs should be served:

1. TUMPENG MEGANA
A remembrance to the parents as the beginning of everybody’s live (mergane ana).

2. TUMPENG RASULAN:
A special remembrance to the good memory for daily life of Muhammad the prophet for muslim community.

3. TUMPENG PUNAR (YELLOW RICE)
To express the happiness, thanksgiving or other good events in life.

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Tumpeng is one of the traditional foods in Indonesia that has various meaning, symbols, and represent the believe of people in Indonesia, especially among the Javanese tribe.

Tumpeng is a special Javanese ceremonial dish that has a large "cone" formed of rice surrounded by vegetables, egg, prawn, fish, chicken, or meat. These aditional dishes have specific set that can vary depending on the occasion.

Tumpeng, food with various symbol and meaning

The "cone" form is a symbol of the mountain, where the "unseen" world exist. It is also the right way to express the high respect for the God. And it could be the symbol of unity, strength and powerfulness.

Tumpeng is often served on a round bamboo platter called tampah that is covered and decorated with banana leaf. The color of the rice can be white, as a symbol of holiness. Or yellow rice as the symbol of happiness, wellness, and good hope in the future.

The white rice could be plain steamed rice, or uduk rice (cooked with coconut milk). The yellow rice is uduk rice that colored with turmeric. And many kind of dishes in Tumpeng is symbol of many problem in living which manageable can be solved.

Usually, tumpeng made to celebrate important event, a happy event like birthday or otherwise. Tumpeng could be somekind of thanks giving for the abundance of harvest or any other blessing. In the past, tumpeng also made to avoid disease, or death ceremony. For the death ceremony, they made a very modest tumpeng as a sign of grief.

Whatever the event, after the ceremony and pray together, tumpeng would cut and being enjoyed together, as a sign of togetherness. This is the way Javanese people enjoy tumpeng in the past.

They enjoy tumpeng together while sitting on a pandanese plaited mat. They put the food on a plate from banana leaves and eat with spoon they've also made from banana leaves.

Tumpeng should be eaten from the base, and not from the top, because the top side should be taken for the God. With tumpeng, people express the gratitude to God while appreciate togetherness and harmony with others.

Three Kinds of Tumpeng

These are 3 kinds of tumpeng and the ocasions where those tumpengs should be served:

1. Tumpeng Megana

A Javanese concept for complete and healthy food for all.

A remembrance to the parents as the beginning of everybody's live (mergane ana)

For birthday event

Veggies: many kinds, color, textural properties, with shredded coconut make a unity in good flavor. This is the symbol of capability to manage the problem in live makes it sweet experience.

Symbol meaning of the veggies:

long bean-hope to live longer

Mung bean sprout-symbol of development, fertile and prosperous

Green leaf-good spirit to do the best

Anchovy- symbol of good in cooperation and unity

Eggs-the strong power for reaching the goodness and better living in the future

Chicken curry-the hope for always meet the happiness and goodness during the life.

2. Tumpeng Rasulan:

A special remembrance to the good memory for daily life of Muhammad the prophet for muslim community.

A good combination of taste for the all sets of the food

Chicken: "ingkung" (specific whole body chicken curry) showing specific pray position.

Serving in special commemoration moment.

3. Tumpeng Punar (yellow rice)

To express the happiness, thanks giving or other good events in life.

The set of the menu to complete the dish: all fried (and to preserved) cooked seeds (soy bean, peanuts), shredded meat, eggs.

Can be served in longer time.

Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, Mrs Mary Elka Pangestu, in 2013 promoted tumpeng as one among 30 Indonesian culinary icons, and finally elevate its status as the official national dish of Indonesia in 2014. Mrs Mary Pangestu also describe tumpeng as "the dish that binds the diversity of Indonesian various culinary traditions."(IN).

References:

1. Tumpeng in Javanese Food Culture, from a Seminar by Prof. Dr. Ir. Murdijati Gardjito in Jogyakarta, May 2014.

2. en.m.wikipedia.org

3. Serba-serbi Tumpeng, a book by Prof. Dr. Ir. Murdijati Garjito & Lily T. Erwin

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tumpeng as official national dish of indonesia

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Tumpeng is one of the traditional foods in Indonesia that has various meaning, symbols, and represent the believe of people in Indonesia, especially among the Javanese tribe. Tumpeng is a special Javanese ceremonial dish that has a large "cone" formed of rice surrounded by vegetables, egg, prawn, fish, chicken, or meat.

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Brief description
Javanese's beliefs on whether certain food is allowed or taboo for pregnant women are proofs of the tradition and cultural domination.

Javanese's taboo
1.  Laron, winged termites
Winged termites are believed to cause itches

2. Catfish
Enlarge the head of the baby very fast, resembling a catfish head

3. Banana Dempet (Siamese banana) and other Siamese fruits
Have conjoined twins

4. Shrimp and Crabs.
Babies will be born disabled or retarded

5. Durian and Kweni
Causes miscarriage

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Article - The Folklore about food sustainability according Javanese Culture

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Article - The Folklore about food sustainability according Javanese Culture

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The Javanese concept comes from many cultural elements found in Javanese culture which is:

1.  Genius local element
2.  Element from Hindu and Buddha
3. Element from Islam

Javanese people has grouping food according the position from the ground in three kinds:
1.  Pala gumantung (hanged in the tree: coconut)
2.  Pala kasimpar (on the ground: cucumber)
3. Pala kependhem (buried in the ground: cassava)

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News Article: 'Yuk Munjung': Early Raya celebration for Javanese community

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News Article: 'Yuk Munjung': Early Raya celebration for Javanese community

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‘Yuk Munjung’ (‘Jom Mengunjung’ or Let’s Visit) is an age-old tradition practiced by the Javanese community where families would visit their neighbours and exchange Hari Raya Aidilfitri must-have dishes and greetings before the actual celebration starts.

For the Javanese community, the staple dishes served during the festive period are Javanese-style rendang ayam, sambal goreng Jawa and ketupat.

‘Yuk Munjung’ is practised in most Javanese villages before the arrival of Hari Raya Aidilfitri to foster ties between one another and to express appreciation, especially from the younger generation to the old.

The younger generation of Javanese people will send over Hari Raya Aidilfitri food to older family members, relatives and those in needs.

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SHAH ALAM: Hari Raya Aidilfitri is more than a week away but the Javanese community in Kampung Jalan Kebun in Section 30 here has celebrated the special occasion earlier in a tradition called 'Yuk Munjung'.

'Yuk Munjung' ('Jom Mengunjung' or Let's Visit) is an age-old tradition practiced by the Javanese community where families would visit their neighbours and exchange Hari Raya Aidilfitri must-have dishes and greetings before the actual celebration starts.

For the Javanese community, the staple dishes served during the festive period are Javanese-style rendang ayam, sambal goreng Jawa and ketupat.

This year's 'Yuk Munjung' saw 20 villagers coming together to cook the dishes which were then delivered to some 30 families in time for the breaking of fast.

Nor Kayani Kujang, 70, Siti Mislizah Shamsuddin, 48, and Kalsom Mohd Amin, 59, were the main cooks for 'Yuk Munjung' and they were assisted by their neighbours, mostly senior citizens and the underprivileged.

Nor Kayani was in charge of weaving 125 pieces of ketupat while Siti Mislizah and Kalsom prepared the rendang ayam and sambal goreng Jawa.

They then split into groups where they distributed the food, placed on traditional enamel trays and tiffin carriers, to the families in the vicinity, largely of Javanese descendants.

Siti Sarah Dollah, aged 88, is one of the oldest residents in the village, and she received a special visit by Sungai Kandis assemblyman Zawawi Ahmad Mughni, who is a Javanese himself.

Zawawi, who has known Siti Sarah since young, greeted her with 'Nyampeke Salame' in Javanese, which is loosely translated to 'Giving my regards'.

Zawawi explained to Siti Sarah the types of dishes he had brought and wished her Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

The delighted Siti Sarah said the dishes were her favourite, but joked that it would be difficult for her to eat as she had lost her teeth.

Zawawi said 'Yuk Munjung' is practised in most Javanese villages before the arrival of Hari Raya Aidilfitri to foster ties between one another and to express appreciation, especially from the younger generation to the old.

"The younger generation of Javanese people will send over Hari Raya Aidilfitri food to older family members, relatives and those in needs.

"They would also send their parents' regards and wish them well. This is so they can enjoy the delicacies ahead of the celebrations and to prevent wastage of excessive amount of food during the festivities.

"This is also a way for us to celebrate Hari Raya Aidilfitri with those who will be going away for balik kampung during the festivities," said Zawawi, who as a kid was assigned to the duty of delivering 'Yuk Munjung' dishes to his neighbours.
#SemarakRamadan Not sure where to go for buka puasa today? Get inspired at https://semarak.nst.com.my/buffet

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'Yuk Munjung': Early Raya celebration for Javanese community

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SHAH ALAM: Hari Raya Aidilfitri is more than a week away but the Javanese community in Kampung Jalan Kebun in Section 30 here has celebrated the special occasion earlier in a tradition called 'Yuk Munjung'.

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Video - Sweet Indonesian Street Food Market Tour at Pasar Gede, Solo Java

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Video - Sweet Indonesian Street Food Market Tour at Pasar Gede, Solo Java

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1. Lenjongan (Traditional cake snacks)

2. Branbang Asem (Sweet potato leaf & tofu soycake)

3. Es Dawet Telasih & Es Gempol Pleret

a mixture of cendol, sticky rice and selasih (basil seeds)

Video retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPZbciptXlU&feature=emb_logo

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SWEET INDONESIAN STREET FOOD Market Tour | Pasar Gede, Solo Java

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Video: Journey Culinary Festival Javanese Food

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Video: Journey Culinary Festival Javanese Food

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1. Kembang Tahu Jahe
2. Nasi Jamblang Mang Dul
3. Nasi Liwet Solo
4. Es Dawet Ireng Purworejo
5. Es Roti Bakar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=187&v=-I3wRCPhvNk&feature=emb_logo

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Journey Culinary Festival Javanese Food [Eng Subtitle] - Asta And Food

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Image:
Ganug Nugroho Adi. (2017).

Traditional Javanese rituals complement First Daughter's wedding. Retrieved from:

https://img.jakpost.net/c/2017/11/08/2017_11_08_35525_1510120749._large.jpg

Article:
1. Javanese Cuisine
Ethnic Food R Us. Javanese Cuisine. Retrieved from:
https://ethnicfoodsrus.com/around-the-world-recipes/javanese-cuisine/

2. Tumpeng in Javanese food culture.
Admin. (2014).  Tumpeng in Javanese food culture.  Journal of Education and Social Sciences, Vol. 3, (Feb.) ISSN 2289-9855. Retrieved from: https://www.smartkuliner.com/tumpeng-in-javanese-food-culture/

3. The Folklore about food sustainability according Javanese Culture
Bani Sudardi,  Murtini & Hesti Widyastuti. (2016).  The Folklore about  food sustainability according Javanese culture. Retrieved from:
https://www.jesoc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/KC3_17.pdf

Journal Article: 12 Mouthwatering Traditional Foods You Need to Try in Java.
Fiona Chandra. (2019).

12 Mouthwatering Traditional Foods You Need to Try in Java. Retrieved from:

https://www.fodors.com/world/asia/indonesia/experiences/news/12-mouthwatering-traditional-foods-you-need-to-try-in-java

News Article: 'Yuk Munjung': Early Raya celebration for Javanese community.
Dawn Chan. (2019).  'Yuk Munjung': Early Raya celebration for Javanese community. Retrieved from:
https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2019/05/490997/yuk-munjung-early-raya-celebration-javanese-community

Other sources:
Javanese cuisine. Retrieved from wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javanese_cuisine

Javanese's food taboo.
Alain Graig Waas. Retrieved from:
http://repository.unika.ac.id/17005/2/14.J1.0017%20ALAN%20GRAIG%20WAAS%20%285.95%29.Chapter%201.pdf

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The Buginese' diet consists mainly of rice, maize, fish, chicken, vegetables, fruit and coffee. On festive occasions, goat is served as a special dish.

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BUGIS

The Bugis are the predominate ethnic group on southern peninsula of Sulawesi. Also known as the Boegineezen, Buginese, To Bugi, To Ugi' and To Wugi, they are one of the most well known sea-faring people in Southeast Asia. They have traveled widely and colonized numerous coastal areas and have a long association with piracy. [Source: Encyclopedia of World Cultures, East and Southeast Asia edited by Paul Hockings (G.K. Hall & Company, 1993) ~]

The Bugis are famous for their Pinisi schooners which they have used for centuries to travel as far south as the Australian coast where they left behind drawings of ships and words that have been integrated in the Aboriginal language of North Australia. Bugis have traditionally lived on the coast and the plains are culturally similar to the Makassarese, who dominate the southern tip of Sulawesi peninsula where the Bugis live. The Bugis have their own language and shared an ancient written language with the Makassarese that is based on the Indic model and has 27 symbols and looks like a "cross section of different but closely related spiral shells." The Bugi name is derived from a village-"To Ugi" formally on the Cenrana River. Bugis are believed to number around 6 million, making up 2.7 percent of Indonesia's population, with maybe three fourths of them living in Sulawesi. ~

The homeland of the Buginese is the area around Lake Tempe and Lake Sidenreng in the Walannae Depression in the southwest peninsula of Sulawesi. It was here that the ancestors of the present-day Bugis settled, probably in the mid- to late second millennium B.C. The area is rich in fish and wildlife and the annual fluctuation of Lake Tempe allows planting of wet rice, while the hills can be farmed by swidden or shifting cultivation. [Source: Wikipedia]

The rhythm of Bugi agricultural and maritime life is influenced by the monsoon seasons. Bugis have settled on their own or through transmigration programs all across Indonesia. They are especially well represented in eastern Sumatra, the Riau Archipelago, along the entire shore line of Sulawesi as well as coastal areas in Kalimantan, the Moluccas, Flores and most the islands in eastern Indonesia. ~

Bugi History

The Bugis are believed to have originated from the Sa'dan River and migrated inland up the Sa'dan valley and across to the Gulf of Boni, where they established their first kingdom, Luwu, which grew rich by dominating the trade of iron and nickel. As time went on a more powerful Bugi kingdom based on a complex network of chiefs and wet-rice agriculture grew up in the south and eclipsed Luwu by the 14th century. [Source: Encyclopedia of World Cultures, East and Southeast Asia edited by Paul Hockings (G.K. Hall & Company, 1993) ~]

By the 16th century the Makassar challenged the Bugis for dominance of the region and prevailed by the 17th century. In 1667, the Bugis allied with the Dutch to overthrow the Makassar and established a powerful kingdom that endured through the Dutch period. During this time there was a great diaspora of Bugis, especially those who had been allies of the Makassar. ~

The weakness of the small coastal Malay states led to the immigration of the Bugis, escaping from Dutch colonisation of Sulawesi, who established numerous settlements on the peninsula which they used to interfere with Dutch trade. They seized control of Johor following the assassination of the last Sultan of the old Malacca royal line in 1699. Bugis expanded their power in the present-day Malaysia states of Johor, Kedah, Perak, and Selangor. In the Malay peninsula's western areas, the Buginese and the Minangkabau, often fought each other. By 1740 the victorious Buginese ruled many peninsular states and continued to do so until they were defeated by an alliance of Johor and the Dutch in 1784.

Bugi mercenaries attained high positions in Aceh, Malaysia , the Riau Archipelago and Thailand and established large settlements in eastern Sumatra. Bugi merchants established strategic trading ports on Kuta in Kalimantan, Johor, north of Singapore, and Selangor, near Kuala Lumpur. ~

The Bugis were notorious mercenaries for the Dutch in the colonial period and their presence often turned the tide in the favor of the Dutch in places like the Riau Archipelago and East Kalimantan. Bugis were also involved in the Indonesia independence movement and thus still remain influential today. The Indonesia government has traditionally kept up a strong military presence in Bugi areas to keep them from rebelling and fighting one another. ~

Bugis, the Bogey Man, Trade and Piracy

The Bugis also have a reputation for being pirates. The expression "the bogey man is going to get you", some say, can be traced back to the first Europeans that came to the East Indies who, like every one else in the region, feared the Bugis. Bugi pirates often plagued early English and Dutch trading ships of the British East India Company and Dutch East India Company. It is popularly believed that this resulted in the European sailors' bringing their fear of the "bugi men" back to their home countries.

European mariners greatly feared Bugi pirates. Both Conrad and Melville mentioned the Bugis. Today, Bugis are associated with the rise of piracy in the waters around Indonesia and Southeast Asia. They are thought to be behind some of the pirate attacks in the region. Newspapers have reported Bugis who invaded atolls, burned the villages and made off with an entire year's worth of their cash crop, copra (oil-bearing coconut husks).

Etymologists disagree with assertion that the Bugis were the source of the word bogeyman because words relating to bogeyman were in common use centuries before European colonization of Southeast Asia and it is therefore unlikely that the Bugis would have been commonly known to westerners during that time. The word bogey is thought to be derived from the Middle English bogge/bugge (also the origin of the word bug), and so is generally thought to be a cognate of the German bögge, böggel-mann (English "Bogeyman"). The word could also be linked to many similar words in other European languages: bogle (Scots), boeman (Dutch), Butzemann (German), busemann (Norwegian), bøhmand (Danish), or bòcan, púca, pooka or pookha (Irish). [Source: Wikipedia +]

Long before European arrived, the Makassarese, Bajau, and the Bugis travelled as far east as the Aru Islands, off New Guinea, where they traded in the skins of birds of paradise and medicinal masoya bark, and to northern Australia, where they exchanged shells, birds'-nests and mother-of-pearl for knives and salt with Aboriginal tribes. Throughout the coastal areas of northern Australia, there is much evidence of a significant Bugis presence. Each year, the Bugis sailors would sail down on the northwestern monsoon in their wooden pinisi. They would stay in Australian waters for several months to trade and take trepang (dried sea cucumber) before returning to Makassar on the dry season off shore winds. Thomas Forrest wrote in A Voyage from Calcutta to the Mergui Archipelago, "The Buginese are a high-spirited people: they will not bear ill-usage...They are fond of adventures, emigration, and capable of undertaking the most dangerous enterprises." +

Bugi Religion and Health

Almost all Bugis are Muslims but they practice a large variety of kinds of Islam, a reflection of their adventures around the world. Most identify themselves as Sunnis. There is a strong Sufi influence. Traditional religion endures in the form of offerings to ancestor spirits and heros. The traditional Bugi universe contains an upperworld and an underworld, each with seven layers and a host of deities, some of whom nobles trace their ancestry to. [Source: Encyclopedia of World Cultures, East and Southeast Asia edited by Paul Hockings (G.K. Hall & Company, 1993) ~]

Most religious duties are taken care of by local iman. In addition to the usual Islamic holidays there are ,annual local events, many of them rooted in traditional agricultural festivals and the honoring of guardian spirits. Funerals follow Islamic rites and are generally not big productions like they are with Toraja. ~

Many Bugis believe that illnesses have their roots in uniquely Bugi causes and are only cured by traditional Bugi healers, many of who employ techniques such as blowing, massaging, uttering poems, throwing holy water or extracting foreign objects. ~

Bugi Society

Class rankings are very important to Bugis. There are three main divisions: nobles, commoners and slaves, which are often based on lineages that date back to when the Bugi had their own kingdom. Nobles are believed to possess white blood which may be diluted by people of lower ranks. Slavery has been abolished but continues as kind of caste system that affects descendants There is some mobility within the ranks through hard work and entrepreneurship. [Source: Encyclopedia of World Cultures, East and Southeast Asia edited by Paul Hockings (G.K. Hall & Company, 1993) ~]

Customs regarding inheritance and marriage are in line with Islamic law. Political organization still has some roots in the old aristocratic system. With local leaders often being of noble descent with entourages and leader-follower groups formed around them. The local regencies are in line with former realms governed local nobles. The Indonesian government is trying to undermine this system by getting more government appointed people and popularly elected people in positions of power. ~

Bugi Family and Marriage

Households are formed around the nuclear family with the youngest daughter often in charge of taking care of the elderly parents and relatively well off families taking on poorer members. In some cases unrelated children do work in return for room and board. Men have traditionally done most of the work in the rice fields, with women and children helping with the planting and shooing away birds. Women are in charge of raising children and running the household. Many Bugi women sell stuff in markets and have control over the income they earn. [Source: Encyclopedia of World Cultures, East and Southeast Asia edited by Paul Hockings (G.K. Hall & Company, 1993) ~]

Both parents and older siblings take care of younger children. Raising someone else's children and sending children to the cities to be cared by relatives there is common. Marriages have traditionally been arranged especially among the noble classes where first-cousin marriages have been preferred. Girls are expected to marry young and marriages generally involve the payment of a bride price with the amount being a sign of status for the family of the bride. Big weddings are sign of status among nobles. ~

Polygyny is allowed by Islamic law but is rare. In the past it was fairly common among aristocrats who sometimes had dozens of wives. Many couples live with the bride's family after marriage. Divorce is common especially among couples united in arranged marriages. ~

Bugi Life and Character

The Bugis are regarded as fighters. Many other Indonesians don't trust them. Describing a Bugi knife fight, the Blair brothers wrote: "It 'was clearly to the death...the milling throng which surrounded the two furious combatants who rolled around like snakes in the dust attempting to stab each other with their 'badiks,' the seaman's dagger." [Source: "Ring of Fire" by Lawrence and Lorne Blair, Bantam Books, New York, ♢]

Bugis have a strong sense of honor that is manifested in the punishment for couples who elope and fights that defend insults to family honor. Islamic officials and nobles often try to mediate such disputes. The Bugis have a long history of conflicts between themselves and other groups. In the old days there were often disputes between nobles, who used entourages, militias and armies to defend their claims. Bugis enslaved groups like the Tojada and rioted against the Chinese. Corporal punishment is common among Bugis. Sons are encouraged to be tough and are challenged, taunted and mocked to make them tougher. Same sex siblings often fight a lot.

The Bugis have traditionally been organized in municipal villages ( desa) with 2,000 to 10,000 inhabitants that were set up in fishing, trading, and rice-growing areas. Each desa usually contained two to five hamlets with houses clustered around roads. Traditional Bugi homes are raised on stilts up to three meters off the ground and have plank walls and floors. Roofs are made of corrugated metal. Only the poorest poor live in houses with thatch for walls or roofs. The number of tiers on the front gable indicates the rank of the homeowner. In the growing season they often set up field huts among their fields and stay there to protect their crops. [Source: Encyclopedia of World Cultures, East and Southeast Asia edited by Paul Hockings (G.K. Hall & Company, 1993) ~]

Bugi entertain themselves with regional dances, pencak silat (traditional martial arts) and raga (a sepak takraw ball game). The Buginese' diet consists mainly of rice, maize, fish, chicken, vegetables, fruit and coffee. On festive occasions, goat is served as a special dish. Traditional Bugi arts include Islamic decorative art, decorations on buildings, and the making of fine cloth and jewelry. Bugi music is influenced by Middle East music and features flutes and lutes like those found in West Java. Bugi badiks (daggers with curved handles) and prized possessions. Gold-threaded clothes are worn at weddings. Royal regalia is displayed in museums.

Bugi Transvestite Priests and Wedding Planners

Bisus are an unusual sect of transvestite hermaphroditic Bugi priests that have traditionally guarded royal regalia and overseen some rituals directed at traditional deities. Describing a Bisu ceremony, Lawrence Blair wrote, "Though shoved and pinched and taunted unmercifully by the spectators, the Bisus quietly drummed themselves into a glassy-eyed state, drew their kerises from the their sarongs, and proceeded to whirl furiously about the room while trying to twist the blades into their own throats and stomachs. There were certain crescendos when a particularly macho spectator would sweep a Bisu off his feet and kiss him furiously before throwing him back into the circle again. It was an alarming and not very attractive event in which the Bisus were treated more like circus whores than like priests." [Source: "Ring of Fire" by Lawrence and Lorne Blair, Bantam Books, New York, ♢]

One priest told Blair, "These people, our people, don't know who we are anymore. They treat us worse than our women. Our job has always been to stand just between heaven and earth-to be neither pain nor joy, man nor woman, but to stand beyond the dualities which rule this world. We can remain sensitive to the voices of the spirits, and can dream of events to come-though few people listen to us now." ♢

You're born a Bisu," he continued, "and you realize it very soon. You dream and feel things like a girl as well as like a boy, and you desire to dress and behave like both. It is then that you join the Bisus to learn the old ways of magic. Sometimes you make a mistake, and you are not a Bisu at all, but simply what they call all anyway, just 'lady boys." ♢

The Bugi divide their society into five separate genders. Two are analogous to normal male (oroané) and female (makkunrai), and the remaining three are not easily comparable to Western ideas of gender: bissu, calabai and calalai. Bissu, calabai and the calalai, are authorized to enter the women's parts of the dwellings and villages in addition to the men's. [Source: Wikipedia +]

According to the Bugis gender system, a calabai is a 'false woman'--- people are generally assigned male at birth but take on the role of a heterosexual female. The fashions and gender expression of Calabai individuals are distinctly feminine, but do not match that of the "typical" woman. "If there is to be a wedding in Bugis society, more often than not calabai will be involved in the organization. When a wedding date has been agreed upon, the family will approach a calabai and negotiate a wedding plan. The calabai will be responsible for many things: setting up and decorating the tent, arranging the bridal chairs, bridal gown, costumes for the groom and the entire wedding party (numbering up to twenty-five), makeup for all those 0involved, and all the food. Rarely did I attend a village wedding with less than a thousand guests. On the day, some calabai remain in the kitchen preparing food while others form part of the reception, showing guests to their seats." [Source: Sharyn Graham,+]

Bugi Sailing Ships

Bugi sailing ships are called prahus. Described as hybrids between traditional island sailing ships and 17th century Portuguese galleons, they are the last and largest working sailing ships in the world. The codiscoverer of evolution, along with Charles Darwin- Alfred Russel Wallace- wrote in the middle 1800s, "how comparatively sweet was everything on board...no paint, no tar, no new rope (vilest of smells to the squeamish), no grease or oil or varnish; but instead of these, bamboo and rattan and choir rope and palm thatch: pure vegetable fibers, which smell pleasantly, if they smell at all, and recall quiet scenes in the green and shady forest."

Measuring up to 150 feet in length, prahus are built in on top of stilts in shallow water just offshore from protected beaches around Bira, Celebes. Deities are consulted about design changes, shamans help pick out the best timbers and nails and screws are not used. Instead the timbers are held together with special wooden pegs that swell when immersed in salt water. Caulking is done with a white cement made by mixing coconut oil and lime from coral over a beach bonfire.[Source: "Ring of Fire" by Lawrence and Lorne Blair, Bantam Books, New York, ♢]

Unlike Middle eastern dhows, the other great sailing trading ship still in use, prahus until fairly recently generally didn't have any kind of inboard or outboard motor, or winches to help pull up the anchor, or motorized pumps to empty water that seeped aboard. They were towed into port with outrigger canoes and barefoot crew members scaled the 75-foot masts on "single frayed and rusted wires" and worked the decks in the open sea without guard rails on the deck, rigging harnesses or ratlines. Some steering was done with oars. A squat toilet was off on the side of the ship. These days may have motors.

Alfred Russel Wallace on Bugi Sailing Ships

On the prahu he traveled in on waters around Indonesia, Alfred Russel Wallace wrote: "It was a vessel of about seventy tons burthen, and shaped something like a Chinese junk. The deck sloped considerably downward to the bows, which are thus the lowest part of the ship. There were two large rudders, but instead of being planed astern they were hung on the quarters from strong cross beams, which projected out two or three feet on each side, and to which extent the deck overhung the sides of the vessel amidships. The rudders were not hinged but hung with slings of rattan, the friction of which keeps them in any position in which they are placed, and thus perhaps facilitates steering. The tillers were not on deck, but entered the vessel through two square openings into a lower or half deck about three feet high, in which sit the two steersmen. In the after part of the vessel was a low poop, about three and a half feet high, which forms the captain's cabin, its furniture consisting of boxes, mats, and pillows. [Source: The Malay Archipelago by Alfred Russel Wallace (1869)*^*]

"In front of the poop and mainmast was a little thatched house on deck, about four feet high to the ridge; and one compartment of this, forming a cabin six and a half feet long by five and a half wide, I had all to myself, and it was the snuggest and most comfortable little place I ever enjoyed at sea. It was entered by a low sliding door of thatch on one side, and had a very small window on the other. The floor was of split bamboo, pleasantly elastic, raised six inches above the deck, so as to be quite dry. It was covered with fine cane mats, for the manufacture of which Macassar is celebrated; against the further wall were arranged my guncase, insect-boxes, clothes, and books; my mattress occupied the middle, and next the door were my canteen, lamp, and little store of luxuries for the voyage; while guns, revolver, and hunting knife hung conveniently from the roof. During these four miserable days I was quite jolly in this little snuggery more so than I should have been if confined the same time to the gilded and uncomfortable saloon of a first-class steamer. Then, how comparatively sweet was everything on board-no paint, no tar, no new rope, (vilest of smells to the qualmish!) no grease, or oil, or varnish; but instead of these, bamboo and rattan, and coir rope and palm thatch; pure vegetable fibres, which smell pleasantly if they smell at all, and recall quiet scenes in the green and shady forest. *^*

"Our ship had two masts, if masts they can be called c which were great moveable triangles. If in an ordinary ship you replace the shrouds and backstay by strong timbers, and take away the mast altogether, you have the arrangement adopted on board a prau. Above my cabin, and resting on cross-beams attached to the masts, was a wilderness of yards and spars, mostly formed of bamboo. The mainyard, an immense affair nearly a hundred feet long, was formed of many pieces of wood and bamboo bound together with rattans in an ingenious manner. The sail carried by this was of an oblong shape, and was hung out of the centre, so that when the short end was hauled down on deck the long end mounted high in the air, making up for the lowness of the mast itself. The foresail was of the same shape, but smaller. Both these were of matting, and, with two jibs and a fore and aft sail astern of cotton canvas, completed our rig. *^*

"The crew consisted of about thirty men, natives of Macassar and the adjacent coasts and islands. They were mostly young, and were short, broad-faced, good-humoured looking fellows. Their dress consisted generally of a pair of trousers only, when at work, and a handkerchief twisted round the head, to which in the evening they would add a thin cotton jacket. Four of the elder men were "jurumudis," or steersmen, who had to squat (two at a time) in the little steerage before described, changing every six hours. Then there was an old man, the "juragan," or captain, but who was really what we should call the first mate; he occupied the other half of the little house on deck. There were about ten respectable men, Chinese or Bugis, whom our owner used to call "his own people." He treated them very well, shared his meals with them, and spoke to them always with perfect politeness; yet they were most of them a kind of slave debtors, bound over by the police magistrate to work for him at mere nominal wages for a term of years till their debts were liquidated." *^*

Traveling on a Bugi Prahu

Before setting off on a voyage in a prahu an auspicious date is determined by a shaman and astrologers, and a white cock and a black goat are often ritually slaughtered in a "leaving land ceremony," the only time of the year women are allowed to set foot on the deck of a prahu. [Source: "Ring of Fire" by Lawrence and Lorne Blair, Bantam Books, New York, ♢]

The Bugis follow the monsoons winds east and west, depending on the season. According to the Blair brothers, Prahus are great for traveling down wind, but if they are lightly load they make virtually no progress in an upwind and often times get pushed backwards. Bugi navigators once could navigate by observing wave patterns, seaweed and bird droppings, but now they stick to coast hugging in the belief that in the hope that they could swim to shore if their boat sank. ♢

Prahus have eight large sails and the 12 man crew (including two boys that do most of the work) sleep in cramped quarters below the deck. Lorne Blair wrote in his diary, "Our cabin is barely large enough to accommodate both us and our equipment. We cannot fully stretch out in it, nor sit upright without cracking our heads on the decking above...We share it with an unwelcome assortment of fellow travelers...at night bed bugs crawl out from under our mats, and we listen to cockroaches merrily eating in the food baskets between our heads." ♢

A German doctor, who had spent decades living on Celebes told the Blair brothers, "They like easy trading routes now and they have forgotten old navigation ways. Often they do no go where they are saying. And many sink now every year."

Bugi Economics and Trade

South Sulawesi is regarded as the rice bowl of eastern Indonesia and the heartland of the Bugis. The coastal plains are intensively cultivated with wet-rice using miracle rice varieties, fertilizer and pesticides to raise several high yield crops a year. Some farmers use mini-tractors, others still rely on water buffalo and oxen for plowing and plant and harvest by hand. They also raise some chickens and ducks. Where rice is raised as a commercial crop much of the farm work is done by migrant workers, many of them Makassarese, Javanese and Madurese. Many Bugis are sharecroppers who work land owned by landowners, who are descendant of nobles from the Bugi royal era. [Source: Encyclopedia of World Cultures, East and Southeast Asia edited by Paul Hockings (G.K. Hall & Company, 1993) ~]

The Bugis are notoriously poor fisherman. When fishing catches are small they often resort to scraping barnacles off the side of their ship and make a soup that tastes like sea water. Even so many Bugis work as fisherman or raise fish in fish ponds. Outside their homeland Bugis are involved in raising pepper, coconuts and cloves as cash crops.

Bugis are famed traders, prahus have traditionally carries cargo up and down the coasts of Sulawesi and between Sulawesi and Borneo and between islands throughout Indonesia and Southeast Asia. The mariners are usually paid half when they pick up the cargo and half when they deliver it. The crew often subsists on corn meal mixed with salt. The cargos include household goods, bicycles, motorbikes, wood and food stuffs.

Bugis also run small shops and kiosks and are the primary vendors of fish, rice, cloth and small goods in urban and rural markets. Chinese have traditionally been the primary merchants and middlemen in Bugi areas. Bugis also produce intricate filagree work for which South Sulawesi is known. Bugi women are regarded as skilled weavers of silk sarongs.

Image Sources:

Text Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Times of London, Lonely Planet Guides, Library of Congress, Compton's Encyclopedia, The Guardian, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, AP, AFP, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Monthly, The Economist, Global Viewpoint (Christian Science Monitor), Foreign Policy, Wikipedia, BBC, CNN and various books, websites and other publications.

&copy 2008 Jeffrey Hays

Last updated June 2015

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The Bugis are the predominate ethnic group on southern peninsula of Sulawesi. Also known as the Boegineezen, Buginese, To Bugi, To Ugi' and To Wugi, they are one of the most well known sea-faring people in Southeast Asia. They have traveled widely and colonized numerous coastal areas and have a long association with piracy.

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The Bajau Laut do not raise or eat land animals regarding them as unsanitary and they exchange their fish and other marine products for agricultural products and cooking hearths by trading.

The bajau laut engage mainly in fishing as their subsistence and besides fish, they eat rice obtain by the barter.

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Article - Why the bugis know more about cooking than about nutrition

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Article - Why the bugis know more about cooking than about nutrition

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For Bugis food, the research team which included several individuals expert in Bugis cuisine,
and who consulted friends and family members to determined that the distinctive flavour principle is derived from the following ingredients, in order of priority:

● candlenut
● onion
● tamarind
● white pepper

Additional ingredients frequently found in Bugis cuisine are coconut milk, chilli peppers, and terasi (fermented fish or shrimp paste; terasi is Indonesian).

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News Article: Recipes from a different time: The Bugis art of slow and lemak cooking

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News Article: Recipes from a different time: The Bugis art of slow and lemak cooking

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Bugis dishes replaces oil with  coconut milk instead.

The bugis must have is the burasak which is the Bugis version of a ketupat.

The one thing makes Bugis food distinctively different from Javanese or Singaporean-style Malay cooking today, is the generous use of coconut milk.

Blue ginger, or galangal, is another ingredient often used in Bugis cuisine as a thickener. It also gives the dish a spicy aroma and flavour.

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What makes Bugis home-cooking distinct from the standard Singaporean Malay fare? Madam Milah Bakri shows CNA Insider three dishes, in this Vanishing Home Recipes series.

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SINGAPORE: The first thing that Madam Milah Bakri reaches for, as she fires up the stove and gets down to cooking us a Buginese meal, is not the oil for the pan. It's a cup of water and two cups' worth of coconut milk.

"Singaporeans use a lot of oil in their cooking," she says, "but when the Bugis cook, most of the dishes use no oil at all. We use more coconut milk instead."

It's our introduction to Buginese cuisine and what makes it distinct from the standard Malay home-cook's fare. For instance, on a table behind the 55-year-old is a large stack of young banana leaves - softer and in a vibrant shade of green, unlike the older, darker leaves that are more often used.

But the younger leaves, like Buginese home-cooking, are becoming increasingly rare these days, as the current generation struggles to find the time, inclination and sometimes ingredients to make these heritage dishes.

Indeed, the irony is that Mdm Milah isn't actually Buginese. There was even a time she didn't particularly enjoy the culture's way of cooking, like how the liberal use of coconut milk makes almost every dish "very thick, very creamy", she said.

Then four years ago, she was in her husband's Indonesian hometown in Makassar, Sulawesi on the second day of Hari Raya. They were feasting on an array of traditional Bugis dishes such as burasak and nassu manu likku, when he turned to her and said: "How good it would be if I could have Bugis dishes back home!"
Read: 5 things that might surprise you to learn about the Bugis
She was embarrassed. She saw it as her duty to be able to serve his favourite food, but her own family background was Javanese, and traditional Bugis food was rare in Singapore.

She knew about the Buginese people (Ogik in the Bugis language) - an ethnic group from the southwestern province of Sulawesi, Indonesia - and had listened to her husband's stories of how his sea-nomad ancestors settled in Singapore and the Malay Peninsula as traders in the 1600s.
NO YOUNG BANANA LEAVES, NO BUGIS COOKING
But when it came to food, her husband Mr Ibrahim Ariff was not exactly an expert, as he had never stepped into the kitchen. So with the help of cookbooks, Google and occasional phone calls to her in-laws, Mdm Mila set about learning how to prepare Bugis dishes - six of which she has mastered to date. (See three recipes below)

No one is happier than Mr Ibrahim. "I don't need to go to Johor, Sulawesi or Jakarta for these dishes anymore," he said, beaming, as he looked at his wife adoringly. "They are now available at home."

Ask Mr Ibrahim to score his wife's home-cooked Bugis food, and he gives it a confident 99.5 per cent. But where did the other 0.5 per cent go?

"Young banana leaves," he said. "You can't get young banana leaves in Singapore."

The leaf in question features heavily in Bugis cooking - it is a must-have to make burasak, the Bugis version of a ketupat. While ketupat is wrapped with coconut leaves, a burasak is a rectangular rice dumpling encased in banana leaf.

Young leaves are thinner and easier to fold; older leaves tend to crack easily.

"You would have to soften the leaves first if you use old ones," said Mdm Milah, who does so by gently passing the leaves over the stove's flame. "When the banana leaf changes to a dark green colour, that's when you know it's really soft."

The other problem with older leaves, however, is that that they infuse the dumplings after steaming with a yellow colour. The desired colour is a pleasant shade of light green - which only young banana leaves can produce.

According to Mdm Milah, it is possible to order the latter in bulk from suppliers in Johor Bahru, but it requires two to three days' notice. "That's why not many people in Singapore like to make burasak - because of the difficulty in getting the leaves," she said.
PLENTY OF COCONUT MILK, BUT EVEN MORE PATIENCE
This proved true when CNA Insider went hunting for them in several wet markets and supermarkets in Singapore, including at Geylang Serai and the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre. Older banana leaves were in abundance, but mention young leaves and you'd be dismissed with a shake of the head.

The prized leaves were located at Tekka Market eventually, at a stall that sells only banana leaves.

The one thing that Mdm Milah and Mr Ibrahim agree makes Bugis food distinctively different from Javanese or Singaporean-style Malay cooking today, is the generous use of coconut milk.

"It's a three-to-one ratio," said Mdm Milah. "For Malaysian and Singaporean cooking, we use a small carton of coconut milk, but a medium-sized carton of coconut milk may be used in Bugis cooking."

She attributed this to the Buginese's need to keep food for a longer period of time, in order to last for long sea voyages in the past. What also helped was long cooking times.

"The longer you cook, the longer you can keep. A lot of coconut milk is used in the burasak, hence you can keep it for two to three weeks," she said. There is none used in ketupat.

Burasak is cooked twice. First, jasmine rice is cooked in a pan together with coconut milk, and then packed into the young banana leaves and boiled for another six to eight hours. The result? Melt-in-the-mouth rice parcels infused with the fragrance of young banana leaves and coconut milk.

The flattened dumplings are unexpectedly filling, because of the coconut milk. And for Mdm Milah, they are paired perfectly with nassu manu likku, or blue ginger chicken.

Blue ginger, or galangal, is another ingredient often used in Bugis cuisine as a thickener. It also gives the dish a spicy aroma and flavour.

The chicken is cooked on the stove in a spice mix for at least one-and-a-half hours - with constant stirring to prevent the oil in the coconut milk from separating - until the sauce is thick and creamy.

You have to stand in front of your stove and have patience. It's not like the normal Singaporean food that takes half an hour to cook,

said Mdm Milah. The amount of waiting involved, she added, is another factor that discourages people from preparing and selling Bugis dishes in Singapore. "You have to wake up overnight to prepare the dishes for the morning."
REVIVING THE BUGIS CULTURE
For Mr Ibrahim's friend, Mr Mohamad Jamal, a 37-year-old third-generation Bugis, it's impossible to think of making burasak and nassu manu likku on a normal day.

"It's a recipe from a different time," he said. "We don't have that kind of luxury now to cook these amazing dishes because of its complexity and time needed."

Dinner is finally ready after a full half-day of preparation, and we all tuck in. Scooping some barongko - a traditional Bugis banana kueh made with saba bananas, coconut milk, condensed milk and eggs - into his mouth, Mr Ibrahim closes his eyes in content and gives a thumbs up.

"This is my favourite dish. Even my mother never made this for me - only my wife would. This is why I love her so much," he teased. "My one and only honey!"

For him, the sense of wistful nostalgia goes beyond the taste of the dishes he used to eat as a child. Reviving the Bugis culture and educating Singaporeans about his ethnic group is a mission close to Mr Ibrahim's heart.

If you ask anyone about Bugis, they will say it's the name of a street. Bugis Street, Bugis Junction. It's very sad.

"It is important to tell Singaporeans that Bugis is a community, a living person," he said.
RECIPE #1: BUGIS RICE DUMPLING (BURASAK)
He recently published a book, The Bugis in Singapore, and is a contributor of artifacts for the ongoing exhibition, Sirri na Pesse: Navigating Bugis Identities in Singapore at the Malay Heritage Centre.
INGREDIENTS
As for Mdm Milah, she is dedicated to learning more about Bugis cooking for the sake of her children. "They love it because of the spices and how thick the sauces are," she said. "I will slowly pass on to them what I know."

This recipe makes about 8-10 dumplings.

2.5 rice cups jasmine rice

1.5 rice cups coconut milk

2 rice cups of water

2 pieces bay leaves

Pinch of salt
MAKE THE BURASAK
10 8x5-inch pieces of young banana leaves

2 13x10-inch pieces of young banana leaves

1. Wash the rice 3 times.

2. In a pot over medium heat, add water, coconut milk and bay leaves.

3. When the mixture boils, add the rice. "You must use jasmine rice so that the grains will stick together," says Mdm Milah

Stir continuously and cook rice until mixture is fully absorbed. "The mixture must be half cooked, because you will boil for another 5-8 hours."

4. Transfer to a bowl to cool.

5. Wrap 2 tablespoons of rice in the 8x5-inch young banana leaf.
RECIPE #2: BLUE GINGER CHICKEN (NASSU MANU LIKKU)
6. Wrap five to 6 burasak in the larger leaf and secure with string.
INGREDIENTS For the spice paste:
7. Boil bundles for 3-6 hours.

This recipe serves 4.

6 shallots

3 cloves garlic

5 candlenut

2 stalks lemongrass

For the ginger blend:
For the blue ginger chicken:
3cm piece of blue ginger (60g)

3cm piece of yellow ginger

1 whole chicken, in pieces

2 cups coconut milk

2 cups water

2 tablespoon white pepper

1 tablespoon coriander powder

1 tablespoon turmeric

½ tablespoon seasoning

1.5 tablespoon assam water

2 turmeric leaves

3 lime leaves
MAKE THE BLUE GINGER CHICKEN
3 bay leaves

½ cup toasted coconut

1. Clean and remove fat from chicken. "Especially the bits underneath the drumsticks that make the dish smelly," says Mdm Milah.

2. Blend shallots, garlic and candlenut; set aside.

3. Blend yellow and blue ginger; set aside. "Blue ginger is spicier than yellow ginger."

4. In a pot over medium heat, boil water and coconut milk

5. Add spice blend, ginger blend, chicken pieces, white pepper, coriander powder, turmeric and stir. Mdm Milah says that Bugis cooking uses white pepper instead of chilli for a spicy kick.

6. When mixture boils, add seasoning, assam water, turmeric leaves, lime leaves, bay leaves.
RECIPE #3: BUGINESE SABA BANANA KUEH (BARONGKO)
7. Stir for another hour until sauce is thick.
INGREDIENTS
8. Garnish with turmeric leaves and red chilli.

This recipe makes about 8 to 10 banana kuehs.

13 ripe saba bananas

4 eggs

60g sugar

1-2 tablespoon of condensed milk

2-3 drops of vanilla essence

2 cups of coconut milk
MAKE THE SABA BANANA KUEHS
13 8x6-inch young banana leaves

13 2x3-inch young banana leaves

1. Peel and cut saba bananas into half. Using a knife, carve out as much of the seeds as possible. This will make the kueh look more presentable, says Mdm Milah.

2. Blend bananas and coconut milk together, making sure there are no chunks. Put the banana mixture in a bowl.

3. Blend eggs, sugar, condensed milk. "When blending the bananas and coconut milk, it's already very heavy. That's why I blend (the eggs) separately."

4. Combine the egg mixture and banana mixture in the same bowl. Add vanilla essence and mix well.

5. Take a large piece of banana leaf, fold it in half. Take one corner and fold it towards the middle. Grab the flaps at the sides and fold downwards.

6. Open up the middle of the leaf to form a packet for the kueh batter.

7. Pour about 3 tablespoons of batter into the packet. Carefully, fold the other side of the banana leaf inwards, then fold the top edge down to seal.
Know a home cook who is keeping alive a vanishing aspect of preparing traditional recipes? Tell CNA Insider on Facebook. Check out our series on vanishing home recipes.

8. Using a smaller piece of banana leaf, cover the top of the packet. Secure it with a toothpick. Repeat.

9. Put the banana leaf packets in a steamer and steam for 20 to 25 minutes. "Barongko is even nicer chilled. You can eat it for breakfast with some tea," says Mdm Milah.

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Recipes from a different time: The Bugis art of slow and lemak cooking

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What makes Bugis home-cooking distinct from the standard Singaporean Malay fare? Madam Milah Bakri shows CNA Insider three dishes, in this Vanishing Home Recipes series. (Updated: ) Share this content SINGAPORE: The first thing that Madam Milah Bakri reaches for, as she fires up the stove and gets down to cooking us a Buginese meal, is not the oil for the pan.

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Keypoints from article:
1. Pansoh or lulun
2. Kasam
3. Tuak
4. Langkau (hut) or Arak pandok (cooked spirit)
5. Salai
6. Peganan, tumpi, chuwan & sarang semut
7. Daun Long
8. Kemping Padi

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Article: Health literacy and food beliefs among Ibans

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Article: Health literacy and food beliefs among Ibans

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Food Taboo due to health

The 'itchy' or sharp and sweet foods such as bamboo shoots, cucumber leaves, ferns and yam should be avoided when a person develops a cough. It is believed to cause further irritation of the throat and aggravating the cough. Thus, roasted foods should also be avoided during an upset stomach.

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News Article: Ibans and their food culture

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News Article: Ibans and their food culture

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1. Iban will start a conversation about food as a gesture of politeness such as "Udah makai?".

2. If you have more than one type of protein food,  it is a consider a luxurious meal.

3. If you have vegetable, meat and another side dish, you are considered to have a nice, decent meal.

6. Food can also reflect social statuses.

7.  It is a taboo when a member or a visitor of an Iban family goes out without waiting for the food to be served.

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Food is sacred. Every Iban will acknowledge this. Their lives revolve around food but not in a gluttonous way. In fact, they are always very generous with food. Food is part of their culture and tradition. It is a topic of a conversation and in greetings. If you hear a conversation between two Ibans, it will first start with food.

If a European starts a polite conversation about the weather, an Iban will start a conversation about food as a gesture of politeness. When you give an Iban a container of food, believe me they'll return the container, washed, of course, filled with food as a token of appreciation. They have this very strong affiliation to food. "Udah makai?" is the thing you hear an Iban asks a fellow Iban, be it in a phone conversation or a face-to-face interaction. If you walk on a ruai of a longhouse close to time for a meal, it is very common to hear the udah makai question which simply means "Have you eaten?" in Iban. If your reply is a yes, then anticipate the next question, "Nama utai kelauk?" which means "What was the dish?" It is a polite gesture when an Iban asks about the food that you had. It means they care.

The conversation about food can go on and on before they even get to the main point. If you tell them you had fish, chicken or pork for lunch and you will likely hear this, "Apu... mayuh mai utai ke lauk!" translated as "Wow! That's a lot of dishes!" If you have more than one type of protein, then it is a sumptuous, luxurious meal you had. If you have vegetable, meat and another side dish, you are considered to have a nice, decent meal.

Gawai is the main celebration for the Ibans. The celebration of a bountiful harvest where they serve all the delicacies that are not restricted to only their traditional food but a showcase of food influenced by other cultures as well. At my longhouse in Betong, they serve buffet three times a day during Gawai! Food can also reflect social statuses.

During Gawai festival, the more expensive the alcoholic beverages served, the higher the social status the person has and food offering for the gods is a must. A ceremony for the Ibans is a community event and food that they serve during the festival, during a wedding or a wake is significant.

It reflects how much effort they put into the event. Whatever it is, the Ibans will always make sure that their dining table is full. Please don't take me literally, a full dining table means, they must always have a decent meal each time.

They can be farmers in the kampung or labourers in the city but they make sure they have decent meals for their families.

Other things do not really matter to the Ibans but to have them is a surplus. It is no surprise that they have a lot of taboos when it comes to food.

If you don't walk carefully near one who is sitting and eating on the floor, just make sure you don't tread over their food. It is an insult. If an abusive husband does that to his wife who is eating, that is the ultimate insult as if she is not worthy to enjoy the meal. It is a taboo when a member or a visitor of an Iban family goes out without waiting for the food to be served.

Sometimes, when one has to leave over an urgent matter, usually the elderly will ask the person to quickly take a bite of what is already cooked in the pot and if it's not possible, someone would quickly rush to the rice pot and pinch a bit of the rice and touch the person who is leaving. Well, that will do too as long as you come in contact with the food.

Otherwise, it is best to just say dahki ni, a short form of udah aki ini, which means 'already, grandfather and grandmother' as a polite gesture in informing the elderly that you have sampled the food. The Ibans believe that if you go out without eating, something bad might befall you, such as an accident or you might trip and fall.

Such strong belief about food is what makes it a significant part of their culture. So next time you see your Iban friend, be polite and ask 'udah makai?'

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'Dah aki ini'- Ibans and their food culture

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Food is sacred. Every Iban will acknowledge this. Their lives revolve around food but not in a gluttonous way. In fact, they are always very generous with food. Food is part of their culture and tradition. It is a topic of a conversation and in greetings.

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Video: Iban food culture at Kampung Moyan Ledang

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Video: Iban food culture at Kampung Moyan Ledang

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1. Iban people are used to eating together at the same time regardless of gender.

2. The iban natives in the village are not allowed to eat deer. Deer is the food taboo of iban.

3. The iban believes that if you eat deer you will die early before reaching adulthood.

4. The other taboo is not being able to plant glutinous paddy.

Video retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du-BuWHxnWA&feature=emb_logo

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Iban food culture at Kampung Moyan Ledang

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The bajau laut of Tun Sakaran Marine Parj

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The bajau laut of Tun Sakaran Marine Parj

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The local bajau practices fishing, cultivation such as seaweed cultivation. They are Malaysia citizens who have settled in an island for a few generation.

A recent survey indicated that over 90 percent of Bajau Laut respondents cited reef fish as a very important components of their diet with octopus sea cucumber, snails, clams horseshoe crab, mangrove crab and sea urchins ranked as less important (Wood and Habibah, 2014).

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1. Umbut pantu

good for health specifically managing body weight

helps strengthen your legs

2. Umbut lalis

helps to lower high blood pressure

3. prawns

weave basket are used to sift prawns through the river's water

they keep their catch in a small baskets

4. "ulat sagu" (sago grub)

plump and juicy

5. Most of the dishes are prepared inside a bamboo.
6. The ibans do not use any santan or coconut milk in their dishes.

Video retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAjC1PYxiB4&feature=emb_logo

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#PETRONASGawai Episode 7: Traditional Food

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PETRONAS journeys to East Malaysia to uncover the unique cultures and traditions of Sabah and Sarawak. This 12-part enlightening adventure continues in Sarawak, where we celebrate Gawai and learn about its delicacies, arts, crafts and traditional practices. Discover more PETRONAS stories - including our more recent ads - by visiting https://www.petronasofficial.com/festive.

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Image link:
https://www.dreamstime.com/editorial-stock-photo-iban-people-ibans-branch-dayak-peoples-borneo-malaysia-most-ibans-located-sarawak-small-portion-image61210343

Article:
1. Health literacy and food beliefs among Ibans
Yap Sim Bee. (1985).  Health Literacy and Food Beliefs among lbans, Sarawak. Med. J. Malaysia Vol. 40 No. 41985. Retrieved from:
http://www.emjm.org/1985/v40n4/health-literacy.pdf

2.Traditional Iban Food.
Liangwei. (2010). Traditional Iban food. Retrieved from:

https://donoe.wordpress.com/iban/traditional-iban-food/

News Article:
Ibans and their food culture.
News Editor. (2018).

‘Dah aki ini’- Ibans and their food culture. Retrieved from:

https://www.newsarawaktribune.com.my/dah-aki-ini-ibans-and-their-food-culture/

Other sources:
Iban's cuisine. Retrieved from wikipedia
https://www.wikipedia.org/

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Keypoints from video:
1. The bajau knows many different fishing methods but the most interesting part is that they do fishing with kites.

2.  Their basic diet is fish and rice.

3. The most highly valued seafood is the treppang.

Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHe5I4dnrw4

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Indonesia. Bajau (Sea Gypsies Tribe) | Tribes & Ethnic Groups

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Image:
Qin Xie. (2016). Last of the sea gypsies: Fascinating images of the nomadic Borneo tribe who spend their lives on the water. Retrieved from:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3436939/Fascinating-images-reveal-nomadic-life-water-Borneo-s-disappearing-sea-gypsies.html

Article:

1. The Incredible Bajau Laut ‘Sea Nomads’.
Wowshack. (2017). No Nationality, No Fixed Home, No Money – The Incredible Bajau Laut ‘Sea Nomads’ . Retrieved from:
https://www.wowshack.com/sea-gypsies-of-bajau-laut/

2. Bajau's Traditional Food.
Nur Hasanah Baqiah. (2015).

Bajau Traditional Foods

Retrieved from:  https://nurhasanahbaqiah.wordpress.com/2015/06/20/bajau-traditional-foods-5/

Journal Article:
Lan. (2016). Eating Putu & Lato @ Filipino Market, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Retrieved from: https://curiostraveller.com/2017/05/11/eating-putu-lato-filipino-market-kota-kinabalu-sabah/#more-52485

News Article:
Tehe-tehe rice: A Bajau Laut specialty.
Bernama. (2017). Tehe-tehe rice: A Bajau Laut specialty. Retrieved from: https://www.malaymail.com/news/eat-drink/2017/02/20/tehe-tehe-rice-a-bajau-laut-specialty/1319055

Other sources:
National Geographic: Diving for Dinner With the Sea Gypsies
Matthieu Paley. (2014).

We Are What We Eat: Diving for Dinner With the Sea Gypsies. Retrieved from:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/proof/2014/10/29/we-are-what-we-eat-diving-for-dinner-with-the-sea-gypsies/

Bajau Laut (Sea Gypsies).
Retrieved from Pulau Mabul.com. https://www.pulaumabul.com/bajau-laut-sea-gypsies/

Bajau's dietary culture
Akira Matsuyama. (2003). Traditional Dietary Culture of Southeast Asia.

The bajau laut of Tun Sakaran Marine Parj
Lena Westlund, Anthony Charles, Serge M. Garcia & Jessica Sanders. (2017). Marine protected areas: Interactions with fishery livelihoods and food security.

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Food is not just a means of survival but has  become an essential part of people’s lives. Different cultures have varieties of food and ingredients. Food represents a community and their culture. There is a strong link between culture and food. Food can also be related to their religion and tradition.

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The Sikh staple food is wheat.

There is no religious prohibition about eating beef or pork.

Sikhs should not eat halal meat (from animals killed by the process of gradual slaughter).

Meat is only permitted for consumption if it is jhatka, where the animal is killed instantaneously with one blow.

Sikh vegetarians see this is as the rejection of a particular method of slaughter not permission to eat meat killed in some other way.

Many sikhs will not eat any form of meat, rejecting fish as well as eggs but for some the cow is the only forbidden animal and so they will not eat beef.

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1. The Sikh is concern over the morality of killing animals for food but say that the decision about whether to eat meat should be left to the individual.

2. Sikh temples have a community kitchen, called a langar, that provides free meals to all worshipers and visitors, even those from other religions.

4. Everyone is served the same food and no distinction is made between rich and poor.

5. The work involved in preparing and serving the food is called seva, voluntary selfless service.

6. The food served here is always vegetarian, which makes it accessible to people of all religions.

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1. Sikhs are forbidden to eat Halal, kosher or beef.

2. Some Sikh may prefer to eat no meat at all.

3. Sikhs prefer to eat chicken, lamb, pork and fish.

4. Some Sikhs are vegetarians.

5. Vegetarian Sikhs do not eat fish or eggs.

6. It is important not to use the same utensils to cook for Sikhs as have been used to cook or store Halal, kosher or beef.

7. There are no specific times for fasting, although some Sikhs may wish to fast when there is a full moon.

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News Article: Sikh volunteers prepare 1,000 home-cooked meals during coronavirus crisis 

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News Article: Sikh volunteers prepare 1,000 home-cooked meals during coronavirus crisis 

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A group of Sikh volunteers have established a coronavirus food delivery service.

They have cooked nearly 1000 home-made meals which they will deliver for free.

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Sikh volunteers prepare 1,000 home-cooked meals and deliver them to Australians self-isolating during coronavirus crisis for FREE

A group of Sikh volunteers have established a coronavirus food delivery service

They have cooked nearly 1000 home-made meals which they will deliver for free

They will deliver the food to self-isolated people around south-east Melbourne

Heroes worked with business owners to provide free food during bushfire crisis

Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?

A group of Sikh volunteers have started a free home delivery service and will soon deliver 1,000 home-cooked meals to Australians in coronavirus self-isolation.

Sikh Volunteers Australia announced it would be delivering free food to COVID-19 affected people in Melbourne's south-east for the next two weeks.

The group's Vice President, Manpreet Singh, told Daily Mail Australia volunteers sprung into action when the pandemic crisis deepened in Australia in the past few weeks.

'We run free food for the homeless and needy in this area twice a week,' he said.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 833

New South Wales: 428

Victoria: 150

Queensland: 144

Western Australia: 52

South Australia: 43

Tasmania: 10

Australian Capital Territory: 4

Northern Territory: 2

TOTAL CASES: 833

'Once we heard people were having a problem with food when they go shopping, they can't find food in the shopping centre, then we added one more day.

'We had nearly 50 people on the first day, so then we realised people really need the food.'

The service will be provided everyday for the next two weeks.

'Yesterday we delivered 310 meals, we received more than 200 calls yesterday. Today the quantity has been increased and we delivered 460 meals,' he said.

'99 percent of the people using the service are Australian, the only Indians are those coming from overseas who are isolating for 14 days.'

He said they have seen first hand it was mostly the elderly who needed their service.

'(It's mostly) vulnerable people who are worried about the virus or people having trouble getting food at the supermarket, and disabled, homeless and single parents who are looking after their kids and can't go out,' Mr Singh said.

'We also helped during disasters like the bushfires in the Gippsland area.'

One of the charity's founders, Jaswinder Singh, said they also extended their services during the bushfire crisis.

'We provide free food normally for suburbs in the area twice a week. Last time we extended our regular service for the bushfires and we're doing it again now for the virus,' Mr Singh explained.

He said that the Facebook notice for the service had amassed over 200 orders since it was posted yesterday.

'Some of those ordering are sick or disabled and we have had a few messages from people who are stressed and have quarantined themselves,' Mr Signh said.

Mr Singh noted the service provided vegetarian food and that customers could 'decide whatever they need from the menu on our Facebook page.'

The Facebook advertisement said that deliveries would be made between 6pm and 8pm and that orders must be placed by 12pm.

The Sikh volunteers are already renowned in the community for their selfless actions co-operating with a local business owner during the bushfire crisis in Victoria.

Mr Singh said the volunteer group worked alongside a Sikh couple who owned an Indian restaurant, Kanwaljit Singh and his wife Kamaljit Kaur, to provide free meals to impacted people.

'We went down to Bairnsdale the first day and as we didn't have established site they give us their restaurant backyard,' he explained.

The Sikh volunteer group then handed out thousands of curry and rice dishes to Victorians who were living in temporary shelters.

Grateful community members shared their praise for the services provided by the group.

One person wrote: 'They are such amazing people these Sikh volunteers! Thank-you for all you do for others.'

'Great kindness in troubled times from wonderful people. Thank you,' said another.

The non-profit organisation was founded in 2017 and has a team of 103 members who work regular jobs alongside their volunteering.

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Sikh volunteers deliver food to people self-isolating for COVID-19

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A group of Sikh volunteers have established a coronavirus food delivery service They have cooked nearly 1000 home-made meals which they will deliver for free They will deliver the food to self-isolated people around south-east Melbourne Heroes worked with business owners to provide free food during bushfire crisis Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?

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Video - Sikh cooks for 10,000 people in Delhi's biggest Sikh Temple

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Video - Sikh cooks for 10,000 people in Delhi's biggest Sikh Temple

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1. Each day around 15 thousand people are fed for free at delhi's biggest sikh temple.

2. It welcomes people from different backgrounds, faith and level of income.

3. It is known as food blessed by god.

4. At anytime of day, any race, religion and nationality or academic class can come and partake in this meal for free.

5. The Sikh donate everything including grains, flour, salt and oil.

6. The person who cooks for the people are normal people who volunteers to do service for the sake of their god.

Video retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjauC9ad8Wo&feature=emb_logo

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INDIAN FOOD Touched by GOD! How to Cook for 10,000 People in Delhi's Biggest Sikh Temple!

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Image:
Douglas Quan. (2018).
'Why now?' Anger grows over mention of Sikh extremism in federal terror threat report. Retrieved from:
https://nationalpostcom.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/Sikhs-1.png?w=800

Journal Article: Sikh's Community.
Unknown. (2016). Sikh's community. Retrieved from:
http://malaysiatfood.blogspot.com/p/sikh.html

News Article: Sikh volunteers prepare 1,000 home-cooked meals during coronavirus crisis.
Charlie Coe & Adam Mccleery. (2020). Sikh volunteers prepare 1,000 home-cooked meals and deliver them to Australians self-isolating during coronavirus crisis for FREE. Retrieve from:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8130469/Sikh-volunteers-prepare-meals-deliver-free-food-people-self-isolating-coronavirus.html

Other Sources:
Diet in Sikhism. Retrieved from wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diet_in_Sikhism

Sikh's foods. https://www.canteach.ca/elementary/sikhism12.html

Sikh in England.
Satwant Kaur Rait. (2005).

Sikh Women in England: Their Religious and Cultural Beliefs and Social Practices.

Sikh diet.
Susan Hollins.(2006). Religions, Culture and Healthcare: A Practical Handbook for Use in Healthcare Environments, Second Edition.

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Video - Blue Ginger Chicken and Bugis Rice Dumplings

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Video - Blue Ginger Chicken and Bugis Rice Dumplings

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1. Bugis dishes took hours to make  and requires stirring continuously otherwise the food will burnt.

2. Bugis cooking uses a lot of blue ginger because the taste is spicier.

3. Key ingredient for bugis's food are 2 cups of coconut milk.

4. Some of the Bugis's food do not use oil at all because oil comes out from the coconut itself.

Video retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LAf2_77GlQ&feature=emb_logo

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Mdm Milah's Blue Ginger Chicken and Bugis Rice Dumplings | Vanishing Home Recipes | CNA Insider

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Whenever you find a saba banana plant infront of a house most likely it is a Bugis family.

Saba banana can be eaten fried or boiled. It can also be eaten with rice.

Video retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=18&v=MleOV8dLLpQ&feature=emb_logo

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Mdm Mila's Saba Banana Kueh | Vanishing Home Recipes | CNA Insider

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Image:
Badd. (2017). The Bugis Community recognizes five genders. How does that even work. Retrieved from:

https://cilisos.my/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/qqwwee.jpg

Article:
1. Description about Buginese Food.
Leo Suryadinata; Evi Nurvidya Arifin; Aris Ananta. (2003). Indonesia's Population: Ethnicity and Religion in a Changing Political Landscape. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Retrieved from:
https://ethnipedia.fandom.com/wiki/Bugis

2. Buginese' diet.
Jeffrey Hays. (2015). BUGIS. Retrieved from:
http://factsanddetails.com/indonesia/Minorities_and_Regions/sub6_3e/entry-4011.html

3. Why the bugis know more about cooking than about nutrition.
Astuti Taslilm, Veni Hadju, Elly Ishak, Faisal Attamimi, Sani Silwana, Djunaidi M. Dachlan, Ramli & A. Yahya. (2001). Social competition, social intelligence and why the bugis know more about cooking than about nutrition. Proceedings of the British Academy, 110, 119-47. Retrieved from:
https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/110p119.pdf

News Article: Recipes from a different time: The Bugis art of slow and lemak cooking

Other sources:
Bugis's traditional food. Retrieved from wikipedia
https://www.wikipedia.org/