Rendang may have been dubbed one of the world’s most delicious foods, but the majority of Westerners have never tasted nasi rendang or any other Indonesian dishes.

“The food is weird: spicy but tasty,” said an American foodie when experiencing nasi rendang — a plate of rice served with spicy beef rendang originally from Minangkabau of West Sumatra — for the first time.

Despite the fact that rendang was dubbed one of the world’s most delicious foods by a CNN survey in 2018, the majority of Westerners have never tasted nasi rendang or any other Indonesian dishes.

The wide gap between Eastern and Western culinary traditions has made it difficult for people in the West to try the dishes of different cultures.

“It is important to provide comprehensive information on each food introduced to my guests. Telling the cultural background, ingredients and flavors of any traditional dish may arouse the interests of foreigners to try the food. Storytelling has proven effective to introduce Indonesian cuisine to first-time eaters,” said food writer and blogger Ade Putri Paramadita.

The proponent of Aku Cinta Makanan Indonesia (I Love Indonesian Food), a movement involving passionate chefs, food writers and food lovers who have been working to promote and to preserve the marvel of Indonesia’s traditional culinary heritage, shared her stories during a session at the recent Ubud Food Festival in Bali.

Ade frequently takes her guests on adventurous culinary journeys — to local and vibrant markets, warung (food stalls) and to fine dining establishments — across the archipelago.

Hot or what: Chef Ragil Imam Wibowo presents an Acehnese spice celebration. He works to preserve Indonesia's culinary heritage by finding rare ingredients and forgotten recipes and transforming them into modern cuisine masterpieces. (Ubud Food Festival/Fivick Bolang)

She admitted most foreigners knew very few Indonesian dishes. Their knowledge was limited to nasi goreng (fried rice), gado-gado (mixed steamed vegetables served with spicy and sweet peanut sauce) and, thanks to former United States president Barack Obama who popularized his favorite Indonesian dish, mie bakso  (noddle soup with meatballs).

“The popularity of authentic Indonesian food is lagging behind those of other Asian countries like Thailand, Japan, India, China and even Vietnam. We have to aggressively promote it on the international culinary stage,” she said, adding that Indonesia has more than 5,000 traditional dishes.

A legion of young Indonesian chefs, food writers and bloggers are joining hands to put Indonesian cuisine on the world map.

Young talents like Gloria Susindra and Hans Christian have shown their creativity and efforts to elevate Indonesian cuisine into appealing fine-dining dishes by creating fusion foods — combining local delicacies with food of foreign origin.

Gloria, who received cooking training at Le Cordon Bleu in San Francisco and Melbourne for culinary management, said she frequently experimented with Indonesian food prepared with Western cooking techniques.

“I frequently served local bebek mercon [hot and spicy roasted duck] and sambal matah [raw chili paste mixed with chopped onion and lime juice] cooked with French methods and served with salad or twisted gado-gado with avocado,” said Gloria saying these were easy entrées to adjust to Western palates.

Twenty-seven-year old Hans Christian, the chef de cuisine at View Restaurant by Fairmont Jakarta, had experience working with world-class chefs in New York and Chicago before returning to Indonesia.

Indonesian flavors: A set of traditional Indonesian dishes prepared beautifully as part of the Pescatarian Paradise menu at Padi Fine Dining.(Ubud Food Festival/Wayan Martino)

“I worked at Yono’s Restaurant in New York and Popup Rickshaw Republic in Chicago. Both restaurants have pleased the palates of the American public with a large variety of Indonesian food,” Hans says.

Hans brought his passion and expertise back home. “Respecting traditional recipes while elevating the presentation and cooking method is my strategy to encourage international foodies to taste Indonesian cuisine.”

It was true that people, foreigners in particular, might find Indonesian food not so appetizing because of its modest look. Chef Wayan Kresna Yasa, Kaum Global executive chef, agreed.

“When we ask foreigners to taste Indonesian food, the first thing in their minds is its hygiene, smell and look, of course,” said Wayan, who obtained his culinary arts degree from Chicago’s Washburne Culinary Institute.

Named chef of the year at Bali’s Best Eats 2018, Wayan has been instrumental in putting Indonesian cuisine on the world map.

“For locals, Indonesian food is delicious, especially when it comes from our mothers’ kitchens. It can also be easily found at food stalls on the streets, but only a few foreigners have the guts to try such food at the stalls without thinking of their health.”

Wayan said there must be changes in the mindsets of local food sellers in terms of food hygiene and presentation.

“Food presentation is equally important to lure the eyes of an international audience to the plates. In many fine dining establishments, both Indonesian and international chefs have started to prepare local dishes with tastes and flavors similar with those sold at nearby warung but cooked and aesthetically presented with international standards,” he said.

Into perfection: Ray Adriansyah (left), chef and co-owner of Locavore Restaurant in Ubud, Bali, collaborates with Indonesian-born Rydo Anton, head chef of Bangkok's Gaggan, to present high-end Indonesian cuisine at Locavore. (Ubud Food Festival/Anggara Mahendra)

The fast-growing national and international food channels, limitless digital platforms and food competitions has provided ample room for young Indonesian chefs, food writers and bloggers to strive. Many of them have become “celebrity chefs”. Thanks to their dedication and fame, Indonesian food gets bigger and wider audiences on the global culinary landscape.

Jakarta-based Ragil Imam Wibowo of Nusa Indonesian Gastronomy, for instance, grabbed a prestigious award for the best Asian Cuisine Chef at the WGS Awards of Excellence in 2018, which aims to honor the best and the brightest of the food and beverage industry in the region.

Currently running 10 restaurants and a few TV shows, Ragil has committed to preserving Indonesia’s culinary heritage.

A band of talented chefs including Bara Patirajawane, Petty Elliot and Rinrin Marinka and many others have frequently appeared on TV shows and documented native Indonesian cuisines in cookbooks, food columns, blogs and websites.

Bara just launched his newest cookbook entitled Sambal Nation at the recent London Book Fair. The book features a large variety of sambal (chili paste) from every corner of Indonesia.

Janet DeNeefe, founder of the Ubud festival, was buoyant. “I am so proud of these extraordinary young talents. My next project is to publish a cookbook featuring their stories, endeavors and their recipes as the precious Indonesian culinary legacy.” (ste)