Promoting Indonesian Culture Through Food

Food is a common ground for many people, a universal language that connects people. Food has always been a big part of my life. I was always intrigued by the culinary world. Watching food-related videos felt like an escape from reality. A video that first sparked my interest was about a YouTuber going around Jakarta, documenting the dishes he found in the streets/markets. These dishes, known as “Jajanan Pasar” directly translates to market snacks. These traditional recipes go decades back in Indonesian history, with our ancestors having carefully chosen and curated these ingredients, making the Indonesian culinary world what it is today. Our culture must be treasured and preserved at all costs. Nowadays, people are often consumed by social media. In the era of globalization, people are often preoccupied with the media, ultimately forgetting about real life, culture, and tradition. It’s of the utmost importance that all generations, young and old, are able to receive this message.
I realized that I had to take action myself. It was up to me to preserve our culture and bring the attention it deserves. Through my Personal Project, my goal would be ​to research iconic Indonesian foods. Then design and produce a cookbook about "modernizing" these dishes to express, dig deeper, and preserve Indonesia's culture through food. “Modernizing” here means combining traditional flavors into modern desserts.
This project is highly challenging because baking is hugely out of my comfort zone. I never had a chance to enhance my skills and learn how to bake. I also have minimal experience in designing. I chose to do this because I’ve always had a tremendous interest in food but couldn’t explore it further due to the endless workloads. I’m expecting to express my pride in Indonesian culture, hoping to promote “Jajanan Pasar” to a larger audience; while improving my cooking and baking skills in the process

Global Context

The global context that best relates to my project is ​Personal and Cultural Expression since it’ll focus on expressing myself and Indonesian culture through food. Food is a way to express one’s self through their dishes. Indonesian culture is a vital part of my identity, and I will be expressing and promoting my pride in Indonesian culture through various cuisines. Indonesia is known for its richness in diversity and history. Apart from what makes it so diverse is the different foods and cuisines that it constitutes of. Therefore, I find it extremely important that traditional foods’ expression is highlighted in my project as it directly expresses Indonesian culture. This project will allow me to delve deeper into my roots by exploring various dishes, tastes, and flavors.

Product

By the end of the journey, I was left with my product — a compilation of recipes in the form of a printed cookbook with the initial purpose of promoting Indonesian culture. Relating it back to the global context, I gained a deeper understanding of Personal and Cultural Expression ​by creating my product. This cookbook has allowed me to rediscover my passion for food as I was given the chance to express my creativity through the various colors, textures, and flavors in my recipes. Seeing my ideas, recipes, and vision come to life was incredible. Little pieces of me are in every single one of my dishes. It's important to note that these recipes were heavily influenced by Indonesian culture. Indonesia’s traditional food supplied me with a solid foundation, which I then modernized and elevated even further. My cookbook consisted of a table of contents, 8 different recipes, alongside information of the “Jajanan Pasar” each recipe was influenced by. To make it more personal, I included a page where I dedicated this book to my family and an about the author page to show why I decided to create this cookbook.

Read my book below!

Reflection

As I worked on this project, I have developed a better understanding and connection with the global context, ​Personal and Cultural Expression. This project created room for self-expression, development, and creativity giving me the freedom and opportunity to share my wonderful, and unique culture with the world. I also developed a great understanding of my project’s topic. Through research, I was able to learn more and dig deeper about Indonesian culture through food, more specifically through Indonesia’s iconic street food. I also gained many new cooking skills as a whole because I was challenged to create dishes that were unfamiliar to me. I felt like I gained a deeper connection with my culture/roots, understanding it better by researching, cooking, and tasting these dishes.

With immense determination and hard work, I was able to make my ideas come to life. With every cup of sugar, every gram of flour, and every liter of water, comes with its own story to tell. Indonesia’s culture runs deep and everyone, including myself, needs to recognize and appreciate it. Often, all we need is just a new perspective. That is what I hope to accomplish with my cookbook; a fresh outlook and product of Indonesian heritage. Wrapped and presented in a way that people of all ages can easily understand, more importantly, the next generation. I want my book to be a bridge from Indonesia’s traditional culture to the modern world.

IB Learner Reflection

Being an IB student, I’ve learned the importance of the IB Learner Profiles through the many years I’ve spent in the IB program. Each profile served as a guide for every situation that I encountered. Though a few were significantly more prevalent for my personal project; ​inquirer, thinker, ​and ​reflective​.
Being an inquirer was essential to my product’s success. Inquiring was most common as I had to research different traditional Indonesian snacks. Besides exploring the history/background, I studied the techniques and ingredients used to produce these dishes. I couldn’t depend on just one source, so I used numerous sources. I also tasted different traditional dishes to familiarize myself with their flavors.
Formulating your very own recipes can be quite tricky then and there, I was able to actualize the ​Thinker profile. It demanded immense creativity and dedication. Not to mention the complications I faced, requiring immediate and quick-thinking solutions. I was challenged to think of creative recipes, incorporating and fusing two contrasting cultures into one.
Making these recipes into a reality took time and patience, filled with trial and error. I had to reflect upon my mistakes to ensure the best possible quality for my product. ​Reflection motivated me to continue improving my recipes until I was satisfied. These recipes go far beyond just measurements and ingredients; I put my passion and soul into them. I was driven to reflect on my Indonesian pride and convey that to my readers.