Culinary Delight in FICTION

BY DONNY SYOFYAN

Chudori shows the negotiated identity thanks to cuisine as a girl of Indonesian-French descent named Lintang, the daughter of Dhimas Suryo and Vivienne, when she said, “Un très bon plate, Ayah! ” (“Very yummy, daddy!”) when she enjoyed the Indonesian speciality Dhimas cooked.

Western superiority — which is still inherent among western people by deeming eastern culture as inferior — has been dismantled in this regard. Furthermore, Dhimas shows how he excels at concocting seasoning for Indonesian recipes by prohibiting Vivienne from fiddling with spices.

Indonesia’s identity displayed by the exiled Indonesian character related to spice stuff gives the impression that cultural practices require the knowledge and habits of cultural actors with strong Indonesian roots. It is even narrated that Dhimas used a ulekan (mortar) sent from Indonesia to prepare the seasoning. The culinary representation is so significant overseas that Chudori emphasised in her novel, “Restoran Tanah Air adalah duta kebudayaan di Paris yang sesungguhnya,” (Tanah Air restaurant is a real cultural ambassador in Paris).

If “Pulang ” accentuates how cuisine develops the cultural identity of the characters, Damhuri Muhammad’s short story, “Lelaki Ragi dan Perempuan Santan” (literally meaning “boy of yeast and girl of coconut milk”), published in Kompas daily on 29th September 2013, can be used as an example of fiction using culinary treasures as a metaphor that animates the story.

It tells the dynamics of a young couple beautifully metaphorised through a typical West Sumatran food called lemang-tapai (sticky rice cooked in bamboo served with fermented cassava), which needs to be eaten together. The “lemang ” philosophy deals with transience, while “tapai ” represents immortality. They will complement each other if the two are combined. The young man in this short story chooses to be faithful in waiting for the girl he adores, who always sends him lemang-tapai

This choice symbolises loyalty and an eternity of love. The young man ignored the potato curry delivery, epitomising other girls’ proposals, as Damhuri asserted in his short story, “Kuah yang kental, kentang yang kempuh sempurna, bagai mencerminkan kesungguhan niat dan ketulusan perasaan keluarga yang hendak beroleh menantu ,” (The thick gravy and fully cooked potatoes are like reflecting sincere wishes and pure feelings of a family in want of a son-in-law). Seeking out the very meaning of local cuisine carried out by Damhuri further beefs up the aesthetic aspects of the short story.

The metaphor of a “boy of yeast” and a “girl of coconut milk” reaches its culmination when yeast and coconut milk are associated with a rift in the young couple. The girl left after getting a job, which is still in the culinary field, as a restaurant cashier. She ended up marrying her superior without telling the young man who was faithfully expecting her. Lemang cooked with coconut milk portrays mortality, even betrayal, by the girl.

The yeast, which is a compulsory ingredient for making tapai – the more it is cooked the sweeter it tastes –typifies the identity and loyalty of the young man falling in love with the girl. He has decided to remain single till the end, rendering his mother to reckon that her son is still harbouring feelings of love for the girl. He never gets exasperated that the girl actually makes a run.

The culinary trope in Damhuri’s short story thus has a crucial role, not only in compounding aesthetics and storytelling techniques through food image-themed characterisation, but also in moving plots and presenting conflict in the short story. Given its deep-rooted cultural phenomenon, Indonesian food or archipelago flavour has turned out to be a creative source of writing that further aggrandises the identity of Indonesian fiction.

The writer is a lecturer at the Faculty of Humanities, Andalas University