24 September 2009

Session 1 of Southeast Asian Cuisine Series: Indonesian Cuisine

Learning about Different Cultures from Everyday Cooking (Processes and Ingredients)

By Shirley Ghozalli. Edited by Moira Blake.

The prepared dishes of soto ayam, with perkedel, ready to eat (Photo from: Imelda Lestariprakerti)

It is common knowledge that part of experiencing the culture of a country can be very delicious, that is through its food. This applies to students who are taking a paper called "Southeast Asia" which investigates the politics, economic development, and international relations of the diverse countries making up the Southeast Asia (SEA) region. Their lecturer Lan Huong Nguyen assigned the students to carry out a project called "Southeast Asian Cuisine Series". This series consisted of 4 cooking sessions that would give the participants the opportunity to taste the rich cuisines of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. In each session, one or more student representatives would teach a simple and delicious dish using ingredients that can easily be found in Palmerston North, so that the participants would be able to re-create the dish later on.

Lan explained, "To understand SEA, you need to understand the culture, and food plays such an important part in SEA culture that I thought I must introduce it. I also know that the dishes will be very nice, and that many IPC students and staff members would probably enjoy learning about and eating SEA foods." This is the first time that cuisine has formed part of a paper. "I hope the students can have a glimpse of how SEA people live, cook, and eat by looking at the preparation processes and the ingredients used."

The first session, on Wednesday, 9th September in T-Block on IPC campus, was on the cuisine of Indonesia. Three students from Indonesia: Fransisco Chandra, Wilda Ribka (both first year students), and Michael Cipta (a 2007 student) were the chefs for the day. On their menu were: soto ayam (= chicken soup) and perkedel (= potato-corned beef fritters). They acquired the ingredients, such as potatoes and corned beef for perkedel; chicken, chicken stock, vermicelli, spring onions, and eggs for soto ayam from local supermarkets. With a cost of only $5.00 for each participant, the food was simple and easy to make although still authentic and delicious. The participants were also provided with the recipes, so that they could make the dishes at home.

The session leader, Imelda Lestariprakerti (a 2007 student), commented, "It was a great way to get together. The food and the company were amazing. We were so proud of our cooking and very happy when the participants said the food was delicious." One of the participants, Joseph Curran, a first year student from New Zealand, commented, "The perkedel is very similar to hash browns, really tasty and I really enjoyed taking the time to get to know a few new people who I have never met before. Also it was not just trying out some new, different tasting foods, but also learning about a diverse culture."

The next session will be Malaysian cuisine on Wednesday, 30th September in the same place and at the same time.

The Indonesian cuisine chefs, from left to right: Fransisco Chandra, Wilda Ribka, and Michael Cipta. (Photos from: Imelda Lestariprakerti)	Michael showing IPC lecturer, Lan Huong Nguyen, how to make perkedel (=Indonesian potato- corned beef fritters)
Lan, Wilda, and Fransisco preparing the shredded chicken for soto ayam (=Indonesian chicken soup)	All participants enjoying the meal

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