Rijsttafel Book Review - The Luxurious Culinary Culture Of The Past

Rijsttafel Book (Detha Arya Tifada / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The Dutch colonial period was one of the most scarring periods for the Indonesian people. People's oppression, fighting against the kingdom of the archipelago, to greed for the exploitation of spices. However, those times were also the era of the fusion of Dutch and Indonesian culture that is inherent to this day.

At that time, Dutch soldiers and officials proposed to wives from among the natives because of the absence of Dutch women in the Dutch East Indies. From marriage, cultural fusion spreads to many things, from buildings with Indische style nuances, tanjidor music, dutch wife (pillow roll), to the most interesting one: rijsttafel.

The combination of cultures in the form of rijsttafel is interesting because discussions related to indist culture have recently become difficult to find in history books, let alone history books on school desks. Fortunately, in the midst of scarcity of references related to indist culture, especially rijsttafel. Fadly Rahman felt compelled to review the rijsttafel case in more depth.

A masterpiece entitled Rijsttafel: Culinary Culture in Colonial Indonesia 1870-1942 also appeared and began to invade bookstores in 2016. Starting from the thesis, this book went through the process of editing and adjusting the language style again, a process that made this book not only 'filling'. , but also comfortable to read.

Such comprehensive reviews make it easier for readers to understand the journey of culinary culture in the archipelago since the colonial era. Therefore, in this review, the knowledge reviewed by the book will be divided into four rounds. Starting from the understanding, history, development, and popularity.

Definition

First, the meaning of rijsttafel. Before going into history, the meaning of rijsttafel must be understood first. Put simply, in Dutch, this culinary culture consists of two syllables: rijts which represent rice, and tafel which means table.

Even so, the Dutch often define rijsttafel as eten van de rijsmaaltijd een seciale tafelgebruikt or a special dish of rice. However, rijsttafel doesn't just have to do with taste. There are things that are most important to the culinary culture's endurance, namely the ceremonial side, service, and European-style serving order (appetizer, soup, main course, dessert).

Uniquely, it was through this tradition that the Dutch also made indigenous dishes up class. As written on the second page: The impression can be seen from the effort to package indigenous dining culture through the appearance of table setting and dishes with a western touch.

History

Second, the history of rijsttafel. The term rijsttafel became popular in the Dutch East Indies around the 1870s. At that time, many Dutch people began to arrive from the colonies thanks to the opening of the Suez Canal. Long story short, the Dutch, who were a little shocked by the tropical climate, began to adjust. One way, they have to adjust to food problems.

Furthermore, the authors reveal the assumption that the culinary culture of rijsttafel is closely related or adopted from the traditions and eating habits of Javanese palaces in the past. Because, the main characteristic lies in the dozens of servants who are ready to serve and the abundance of food served when the king welcomes a guest.

However, there are also other opinions which emphasize that this culture emerged from the welcoming guests in the style of landlords in Java. "The closest inspiration to rijsttafel actually stems more from the luxurious dining rooms of plantation landlords in Central and East Java in the late 19th to early 20th centuries," writes on page 42.

"Rijsttafel later became a symbol of lifestyle among the Dutch people who promoted the habit of eating rice as a form of colonial culture," he continued.

Development

Third, the development of rijsttafel. In its presentation, Europeans always use the power of indigenous people as their servants, both at home and in the hotel dining room. Rijsttafel is usually served during the day.

“Until around 1900, lunch with rice, vegetables and side dishes was still impressed as an appetizer because after that it was continued with European types of food - such as biefstuk and hutspot - as the main course. The dish is then closed with a dessert, such as pineapple, mango, rambutan, and duku, ”stated on page 61.

Later, in the second and third decades of the 20th century, Europeans began to adapt to the environment in the Indies. The proof, lunch began to be dominated by a variety of native dishes of rice, vegetables, and side dishes. Meanwhile, European dishes are only consumed at night.

Cultural fusion

Fourth, cultural fusion. Cultural melting has always been the highlight of rijsttafel. For example, in some typical Dutch dishes, the typical Indian touch with abundant spices has begun to be adjusted. Some of them include bruine bonen soep (red bean soup), huzarensla (Dutch lettuce), Indische pastel (closed pastel), and zwartzuur (shredded chicken).

In fact, the foods that are popularly called stews, cakes and beefsteak, are not originally from the archipelago. The three of them come from the Netherlands who are slowly being adopted and adapted to the local tongue until they are so familiar and ignore the fact that the food originally came from the Netherlands.

The same was true of Europeans at that time. Even Europeans at that time really liked Indonesian food such as fried bananas, serundeng, fried peanuts, and beef eye eggs. These four foods are really favored by the Dutch.

“Many Indigenous people like Paku Buwono X (1893-1939) are amazed to see that the Dutch are so fond of fried bananas which are actually mediocre for them. Uniquely, this snack is eaten by the Dutch with rice, ”stated on page 79.

That is the overall interesting review of the 153-page book. Although rijsttafel existed during the Japanese occupation, the tradition is still preserved in Dutch restaurants to this day. Meanwhile, in Indonesia itself, several restaurants in big cities still maintain the rijsttafel culture, even though it is rare.

Detail:

Book Title: Rijsttafel: Culinary Culture in Indonesia during the Colonial Period 1870-1942

Author Name: Fadly Rahman

First published: 2016

Publisher: Popular Gramedia Library (KPG)

Number of Pages: 153