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span class="inline inline-left">Maharasa Indonesia sets to pay tribute to Indonesia'€™s signature cuisine by featuring West Sumatran signature dishes. (Courtesy of Maharasa Indonesia)West Sumatra'€™s Minangkabau culinary tradition will take center stage at an upcoming fine dining event, where diners can savor 17 of its signature dishes, with Jakarta'€™s art museum as its backdrop.

For the lavish five-hour dining gala '€“ titled the Minangkabau Artisanal Culinary Experience '€“ a six-day culinary trip was undertaken by the Maharasa Indonesia team to remote areas in West Sumatra.

Maharasa Indonesia, founded in October last year, is a collaborative project of five food connoisseurs '€“ chef Adzan Tri Budiman, chef Ragil Imam Wibowo, Lisa Virgiano, Helianti Hilman and Mei Batubara. Together, they aim to excite gourmands with their outstanding insights into Indonesian cuisine.

At first, Mei said the project was unintentionally set up to honor 37 Indonesian artisanal ingredients that were going to be introduced in an international food fair abroad. The unique feast for the so-called pre-departure dinner showcased a wide array of the archipelago'€™s heritage dishes meticulously prepared using the finest quality ingredients.

Maharasa Indonesia plans to host a series of compelling dining events to highlight various indigenous artisanal ingredients that have defined Indonesian signature food culture.

Each dining event sets a different theme that elegantly exhibits the gastronomic tradition of a specific ethnic group or region in the country, accentuating their profound authentic flavors.

Finest artisanal ingredients are carefully chosen and brought directly from their area of origin before being translated into superlative dishes served in a sleek modern plating style.

The stimulating sensory experiences are later completed with engaging audiovisual presentations and intriguing cultural narratives.

The short documentaries, shot exclusively by Maharasa Indonesia, will also unveil the inspiring stories of the indigenous people who have been practicing heritage values in producing the foodstuffs.

Chef Ragil (left) and chef Adzan ready to wow diners. (Courtesy of Ronald Santosa)
'€œWe want to expose the Indonesian ways of life that have actually been applied for centuries. That is the commitment to cultivate local food ingredients organically and the habit of purchasing fresh groceries in the farmers'€™ markets,'€ Mei said.

For the upcoming dining event, set to be held from June 21 to June 23 at the Akili Museum of Art in Jakarta, the Maharasa Indonesia team plans to provide an exceptional epicurean endeavor backed by their extensive research into flavors, heritage values and exotic ingredients.

For six days, the team visited centers of agriculture, farmers and food artisans as well as going inside the kitchens of the locals to watch them cook their signature dishes first hand.

Interestingly, many of these places were found based on direct information the team gathered in the field.

'€œOur expedition to West Sumatra was conducted to find essential components that make Minangkabau dishes beloved by so many people, like their rendang, which has become a very popular dish throughout the world,'€ said Lisa.

'€œDuring our trip, we not only managed to learn their special cooking techniques, but also delved deeper into the culture of the Minangkabau people, who are very fanatic about the quality of their food ingredients.'€

The fruit of the exploration will be presented at the lavish dining event, delivered in the form of a degustation menu.

'€œWe will present the combination of traditional recipes with contemporary cooking methods,'€ said Adzan, who will prepare all the courses alongside Ragil.

'€œThis approach is simply to process the Minangkabau heritage formulas so that they can be easily adapted in the international dining scene without losing the true flavors and nutrients of the artisanal ingredients being used.'€

Akili Museum of Art will host the fine dining event. (Courtesy of Akili Museum of Art)
For instance, he said several dishes would be processed using sous vide techniques, such as the sous vide lobster tail served with fiddlehead curry foam and torch ginger flowers.

Both chefs will honor the characteristics of the artisanal ingredients that are cultivated with heritage values and sustainability '€“ which create the authentic flavors in Minangkabau dishes.

Ragil said one of the highlights was the introduction of the artisanal quality concept of local beef '€“ something that is closely linked to the high protein diet of the Minangkabau people and West Sumatra'€™s famous ratuih or coastal cattle.

At the event, guests will be served three types of beef jerky: grilled with green chili relish, crisp fried with ground red chili and stewed with sliced green chili and shallots. They will be paired with anak daro organic rice from Simancuang, South Solok.

'€œAdditionally, we will serve dadiah, fermented buffalo milk from Gaduik in Batipuh and organic heritage loom sapodilla from Sumpu in South Batipuah, one of the best sapodilla fruits in the world, which tastes like honey and caramel,'€ Ragil says.

Apart from hoping that the archipelago'€™s heritage dishes will garner more appreciation locally, Maharasa Indonesia also supports local farmers, stockbreeders, fishermen and artisanal food producers in getting proper acknowledgement from gourmands.

'€œWe plan to hold one event every four to six months in a fascinating location that has an artistic value that represents Indonesian culture,'€ Lisa says.

Maharasa Indonesia: email to maharasaindonesia@gmail.com or contact +62 8569021981.