Being a member of the Indonesian community in Paris, the 38-year-old Indraswari quickly realized the 3,000 Indonesians living in the greater area of Paris missed their dearly loved soy bean cake, tempeh, despite living in one of the world’s meccas of fine food.

“Quite a few Indonesian women are fed up making bad tempeh too,” she said, while cooking her own in her small apartment in the outskirts of Paris. Born with an entrepreneurial spirit, Indras, as she is
popularly called among Indonesian circles, wasted no time at trying her hand at making tempeh. Since early 2010, her tempeh products wrapped in plastic and measuring 23 by 15 centimeters have been
selling like hot cakes.

“I deliver 12 blocks of tempeh twice a week at the Indonesian embassy cafeteria,” she said. “They are always sold out and I often have to rush back with more supplies in the evening whenever there is an
urgent demand.”

Born in Jakarta from parents originating from Purwodadi, Central Java, and being the second child among 10 siblings, Indras didn’t have an easy life. From an early age, she had to earn her own pocket money by doing all kinds of odd jobs that included making handicrafts and clothes.

Making good use of her available time, seizing opportunities presented to her as well as honing her skills and creativity, are what keep her going.

After graduating from a vocational school in Central Jakarta, she immediately put into use her skills and creativity in the fashion industry, working for a fashion house (Excess) on Jl. Sudirman. But after working for a few years there, it was time to relocate to Paris with her husband.

Realizing it is important to master French to survive in Paris, she quickly enrolled in a language course while also using her creativity at remodeling and mending clothes. Her skills and innovative ideas soon gained recognition among the fashion minded in Paris.

Raising the collar of a woman’s coat to make it appear more “chic” or lowering the neckline of a blouse to make it more sexy, were all tricks Indras’ clients in Paris knew she could perform.

In fact, retailoring clothes at Indras’ for many became a cheaper way of acquiring more fashionable clothes, rather than buying new ones in Paris’ outrageously priced boutiques.

She then enrolled at a prestigious fashion designing school in Paris and soon proved her ingenuity by creating lingerie using Lombok traditional cloth, combining it with stretch material.

She had a go at setting up a franchise for her fashion products, but her request for a partnership with her former employer in Jakarta was turned down. So she temporarily put aside her project to launch her
own brand of lingerie and fashion wear.

Although she held a certificate from a prestigious fashion institute in Paris, and could easily find a job in the many fashion boutiques in Paris, she opted not too.

“While working from home, remodeling clothes and making tempeh, I still can look after my two children. Imagine how much I would have to spend if I had to hire a baby sitter,” the entrepreneur said. Domestic help in France comes at a much higher price than in Indonesia.

So working from home is still the best way to complement her husband’s income and surviving the crisis.

Keeping hygienic standards in mind for her tempeh business, she uses a large blender to split the soybean before cooking it for 30 minutes.

She peels the soybeans herself and adds yeast to her concoction.

“If the weather is warm, I place the tempeh packages in a cool place near the window and in less than 20 hours, they are ready for the market. But fickle weather can slow down the process or even spoil it
entirely.”

With shrewd observation of the weather condition, she was able to succeed where others failed. Though she can rely on a faithful clientele for her tempeh product, she is also aware it is important to
always keep an eye on the competition on the market.

“Tempeh is also sold on the supermarket using imported soy beans from the Netherlands, while I am using soybean from Canada. Though tempeh using both varieties of soybean are sold at ¤3.5 each, I can get 12 blocks for every 10 kilograms of raw soy bean. While the soybean from the Netherlands can only yield 10 blocks. That’s where I get my edge over competition.”

The cafeteria at the Indonesian embassy offers a variety of tempeh, either raw or prepared as sambel goreng tempeh, and cooked with vegetable such as sayur lodeh or  pecel.

Members of the Indonesian community are still hooked on these traditional dishes and regularly pay visits there for a meal or to buy the delicacies to take home.

A faithful client at the cafeteria (Sacha Duault) who has lived in Paris for 20 years, said: “We can’t betray our old eating habits. It is so deeply embedded in our subconscious and will remain there,
wherever we go.”

Sacha’s children and French husband of course are big fans good Indonesian food. So although she lives on the outskirts of Paris, Sacha will go out of her way to get her favorite traditional food including Indras’ tempeh.

Indras, who have been living in Paris for 14 years, has not only become a successful entrepreneur with her tempeh products, but has also unwittingly contributed to propagating a healthy Indonesian staple among the French. Who could have thought that would be possible?

Let us not forget tempeh is touted for its rich content of Vitamin B12 as well as zinc and iron. The many vegetarians in France also love it as it can be served as a substitute of meat.

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