Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine February 2015 | Page 82

80

Explore | Flavours

Indonesian culinary
figure Bondan Winarno
says that the cuisine
of Aceh is a delicious
blend of Arab, Chinese,
European and Indian
influences...

day. You could pick and choose, Padang-style,
from a glass cabinet. That unmistakable
hint of India was present in the nasi goreng
with its curry-orange glow. My friend and
Indonesian culinary figure Bondan Winarno
says that the cuisine of Aceh is a delicious
blend of Arab, Chinese, European and
Indian influences, and this certainly
seems the exotic truth.
On the street, it’s dessert time. Sweet
martabak with different fillings, from
chocolate to cheese and nuts, are particularly
popular. The best thing about street food
is that you are privy to a custom-made
cooking class that reveals the entire
process of rolling and grilling right before
your eyes. I made copious notes.
Day two and I headed for the market,
Pasar Peunayong. Aceh is also famed for its
seafood, and just about the whole ocean floor
was on sale here, from teeny anchovies to fat
tuna and reef sharks. I made my way to the
spice sellers upstairs and met Ibu Sulastri and
her daughter, whose grandmother began
selling spices many moons ago. They have a
healthy business and a regular clientele. “Our
most popular pastes are for rendang and fried
chicken,” she smiles, as she fills a bag
with a freshly assembled paste.
Solong coffee house is an institution in Aceh,
and we stopped in at one of their branches
for yet another cup of coffee. I’m already
addicted! The famous brew is served with
a plate of cakes. I love this eliminatedecision-making-at-all-costs service. I
munched on the most heavenly crunchy fried
bananas coated in super-fine breadcrumbs
and dusted with cinnamon sugar. The
ever-popular local speciality kue timpan (a
gelatinous steamed pumpkin wrap) is also
served. After a sweet start, I ordered lontong
sayur, compressed rice cake and vegetables
with additional beef rendang thrown in
because my body was craving protein to
balance the overdose of caffeine and sugar.

We arrived at Bu Si Itek Bireuen for
duck rendang just as the doors were
opening. Giant-sized woks at the entrance
are a testimony of this restaurant’s
popularity. In a few minutes, the place
was nearly full. Our table was laden with
a number of dishes that included their
celebrated duck, kangkung (water spinach),
salted eggs, crackers and a type of otak-otak,
a delicious bit of steamed fish wrapped in
a banana leaf. But it was the ayam tangkap
that fascinated me. Ayam tangkap translates
literally as ‘captured chicken’ and in this
freedom fighter territory it felt like
Che Guevara gourmet chic. Fried chicken
is mixed with a pile of crisp fried leaves
that include green chilli, pandan
and curry leaves.
In between eating we drove around
Banda Aceh to see the aftermath of the
tsunami. So much has been rebuilt; in fact,
the entire city in all its gleaming cleanness,
felt almost brand new. Near the sea, blocks
of land scattered with rubble lay empty
in overgrown silence, probably because
the entire family was lost, stated our driver.
We visited the Tsunami Museum and once
again saw images of utter devastation and
despair. In the bustling coffee houses
I gazed at the young staff and imagined
they must have been at least 10 at the
time of the tsunami. In fact, everyone
I met probably lost half their family,

but the resilience of the human spirit
survives, and life goes on.
The undisputed culinary highlight of my trip
was Warung Nasi Hasan. Built on the edge
of the rice fields, in a traditional-style house
on stilts, we enjoyed an exemplary feast
of giant-sized prawns, fish gulai, goat gulai
(gulai is a rich, spicy and succulent kind
of Indonesian curry), potato fritters, cassava
leaves, fried chicken and an intriguing prawn
sambal with finger limes, all washed down
with fresh cucumber juice, “to lower the
cholesterol after the enormous meal,”
we were told by our host.
British writer and restaurant reviewer A. A.
Gill says, “Countries surrounded by the sea
grow up different than anywhere else.” With
water lapping on its three sides, Aceh is not
an island but somehow feels like its own
country. Wedged on the northern tip of
Sumatra, it has been gifted with the most
enviable trade advantage of guarding the
entrance to the most important sea route
of Asia: the Malacca Strait. The sea has, in
fact, shaped the history of Aceh, for better
and for worse. But maybe the tide is now
turning as Aceh redefines itself.
It is hard not to be charmed by this intriguing
place. In the meantime, I’m convinced Gayo
coffee still flows in my bloodstream, and
when it runs clear it will be time to return.