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In Malaysia, the soyabean cake is known as 'tempeh' but in Indonesia the same
thing is known as 'tempe'. If we have 'sate' which is grilled skewed marinated meat,
then they also have the same delicacy with the same name.
photo by Avlxyz
If we have 'nasi himpit' (compressed rice cubes), the Indonesians have their
version in 'soto' and their answer to 'kuih bingka' is the 'kuih bika Ambon'.
The bottom line is that when food is the subject, both countries share much
in common.
There are many bonds between these two Malay archipelago countries and one
of them is culture, passed down from the generation of the forefathers. Hence it
is no surprise if both nations share the same 'culinary history'.
At the recent Malaysia-Indonesia Relations International Conference 2009
(Media and Culture) organised by Universiti Malaya's (UM) Arts and Social
Science Faculty, among the issues that came to attention was the 'culinary
ties' between the two neighbours.
To some, the topic appeared to be quite remote but unknowingly food has
moved through the social barriers among the people in both nations.
The working paper by Prof Dr Ir Sudrajati Ratnaningtyas of Bandung's
Universitas Winaya Mukti, on the 'role of the mass media towards socialising the
archipelago culinary culture as a cultural bridge between Indonesia and
Malaysia' is an eye opener.
Confusion was created whenever a certain party claimed as having the
'exclusive right' to certain traditional culinary delights. This happens as the
culture in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore is an amalgam of customs and
traditions of the Malay Archipelago.
According to Prof Ratna, the culture of the three nations is entwined and
interlaced with that of the other apart from being interwoven with that of
foreign in origin.
Hence no single party can claim as having the exclusive right to a
particular culinary delicacy, she said.
The Malays in Indonesia and Malaysia are descendants of the proto-Malays
that had migrated to the archipelago 5,000 years BC.
In his keynote address at the event, Professor Emeritus Datuk Mohamed Ghouse
Nasuruddin of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), said the Malay world stretched
right from Sumatra in the west to the Spice Islands in the east.
Indo-China (Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam) makes up the north with
the Malay Peninsular lying in the centre and flanked in the south by Java,
Sulawesi and New Guinea.
Making up the eastern flank are Borneo and the Philippines.
This region is made up of people that came from a single origin, known as
'nusantara' or archipelago.
“Malay civilisation exhibited the influence of three cultures - Hinduism,
Islam and the West. Before the arrival of Hinduism, the Malay world was
inhabited by people who came from the Asia mainland via the land bridge before
arriving in Southeast Asia.
"They came through Cambodia, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Vietnam, Malay
Peninsular and moved on to the islands in the region before settling down in
the Pacific islands,” he said.
Looking at the early history, the culture in the Malay archipelago is a mix
of that from China, India, Arab and Europe.
Prof Ratna said: "The blend of this cultures resulted in a unified culinary
culture. I believe the society in the archipelago practices tolerance".
Sometimes a food that was claimed to be the exclusive right of a certain
country, was also claimed for the same reason by another nation.
An example is is the tempe, believed to have originated from Indonesia, is
also available in China as 'koji'.
According to Prof Ratna, tempe is believed to be the contribution of the
Javanese to the world culinary arts. Hence, tempe was thought to have originated
from Java but the tempe-like soyabean cakes had been in existence in
China since 5,000 years ago.
Prof Ratna also talked about several blogs by Malaysian writers that listed
out 100 culinary delights claimed to be exclusively Malaysian in response to
Indonesia's claim on 'rendang' as a culinary speciality to have originated from
the country.
Among the culinary delights claimed by the blogs to be exclusively Malaysian
blogs were nasi lemak, nasi ulam, nasi kerabu, Penang Char Kuey Teow, laksa,
rendang, serunding (dried spicy meat floss), fish head curry, roti canai, tosai
and kuih bakul.
According to Prof Ratna, be it rendang, laksa and the likes, whether in
Malaysia or Indonesia, the perspective of the history on the cultural progress
in the region should be considered.
Rendang, claimed by both countries as the dish's country of birth, had
initially utilised the spices from the trade in the era of the Majapahit empire
in the 14th century.
After Majapahit had conquered Palembang (the capital of Sriwijaya), the
favourite culinary dish then was laksa. It was the dish of choice throughout the
empire of Majapahit.
"Now laksa, that originated from India, is a special food whether in
Malaysia, Indonesia or Singapore,” she said.
As for the spice trade, after the fall of Majapahit, it was monopolised by
Melaka which drew the attention of merchants from Europe, namely the Portuguese.
The history link on the culinary culture in the Malay archipelago certainly
clears the air on any 'controversy' over the claim of any party on the
exclusive right to a particular culinary dish.
The cultural similarity between Malaysia and Indonesia should be considered
first before such a claim could be made, said Prof Ratna, adding that the
culture in the Malay archipelago is the result of an amalgam of various
cultures.
"Culture is not the sole right of any parties. Let culture be shared among
all,” she said.
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