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Pergizi Pangan calls on government to register tempeh with UNESCO
Members of the Indonesian Nutritionists and Food Expertise Association (Pergizi Pangan) and the Indonesian Tempeh Forum (FTI) have proposed that tempeh be recognized as the cultural heritage of Indonesia by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
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M
embers of the Indonesian Nutritionists and Food Expertise Association (Pergizi Pangan) and the Indonesian Tempeh Forum (FTI) have proposed that tempeh be recognized as the cultural heritage of Indonesia by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The move follows the discovery that around 20 countries are currently researching and developing tempeh products.
"We have to register tempeh as having originated in Indonesia and get the world's recognition before other countries claim it as theirs," said Pergizi Pangan secretary general Prof. Made Astrawan as quoted by tempo.co.
He added that several countries that are presently making and even developing tempeh as a non-animal, high-protein food include Japan, Germany and Malaysia.
According to Made, the unique process of making tempeh, which involves fermenting soybeans and the use of a fungus called Rhizopus oligosporus, was pioneered centuries ago by the ancestors of Indonesians.
'There are also historical accounts; it was a resident of Klaten in Central Java who initially used fermented soybean as a basic ingredient in the 1700s," said Made.
Today, there are around 100,000 tempeh producers spread across Indonesia. It is consumed by most people and has a minimum 10 percent protein content.
"Tempeh's protein level is quite high compared to eggs, which are 1.25 percent, meat, which is 3.15 percent, and cereal, which is around 6 percent," said Made.
According to Pergizi Pangan chairman Prof. Dr. Herdiyansyah, tempeh is more than just a food for Indonesians; it also has cultural, historical and economic value due to its uniqueness.
"Inspired by UNESCO's recognition of kimchi from Korea and batik from Indonesia, which have been successfully claimed as the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, we want to register tempeh to get the same recognition," said Herdiyansyah.
He added that the Indonesian government should make the request directly to UNESCO.
"The government should carry out the registration, while we will continue our efforts to collect all the data we can relating to tempeh to support the action," said Herdiyansyah.
This data includes the history of tempeh, types of tempeh, companies producing tempeh, nutritional information on tempeh and its uniqueness.
"Hopefully the government can register tempeh with UNESCO in 2016 using the data we are collecting so that UNESCO can recognize it as the world's cultural heritage in 2018," added Herdiyansyah. (kes)(+++)
