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Wida Winarno: tempeh warrior
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Tempeh advocate: Wida Winarno founded the Indonesian Tempe Movement to address the public’s lack of appreciation for tempeh. (Indonesian Tempe Movement/-)
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long with her father and son, Wida Winarno founded the Indonesian Tempe Movement in a bid to give the humble fermented soybean the appreciation it deserves.
Made from fermented soybeans, tempeh is a staple of the Indonesian diet. You can get a big block of raw tempeh for only Rp 15,000 (US$1) at the market or spend a few thousand rupiah for some fried tempeh from street vendors.
The fact that tempeh is affordable and ubiquitous makes some people take the protein-rich food for granted. Tempeh even carries a negative meaning in an Indonesian idiom – mental tempe (tempeh mentality) is used to describe a weak mindset.
Food scientist Wida Winarno begs to challenge this view. For her, tempeh deserves a better place than just a side dish.
In an attempt to increase awareness of tempeh as a healthy and sustainable food, Wida founded the Indonesian Tempe Movement in 2014 along with her father, esteemed food science expert Florentinus Gregorius Winarno, and son, food scientist Amadeus Driando Ahnan-Winarno.
“We are reintroducing tempeh to the public so that we, Indonesians, can be proud of it. We also try to promote tempeh on an international level, showing it as Indonesia’s culinary contribution to the world,” Wida told The Jakarta Post recently.
