Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine March 2015 | Page 85

Explore | Flavours

83

The sprawling Torajan
community, isolated from the
rest of Sulawesi by stunning
topography, lives with a
passionate and unbowed
adherence to a culture known
as Aluk To Dolo – the Way of
the Ancestors – which honours
the lineage of both male and
female parents, defining the
class of a family through
its maternal heritage.
Visiting the market town of Rantepao you
see all around you the deep roots of a rural
culture, the trade in meat, the beating of
steel and the sale of local crops, minimal
selections but magnificent and fresh from
the dirt. The stalls display fanned golden
tobacco leaves, the brightness of betel, pearly
garlic bulbs and knotted turmeric and
gingers. Here livestock is traded; there is no
auction, but a steady negotiation continues
as vast sums of money change hands.
‘Cowboys’ in full regalia, checked shirts,
aviator shades and the local version of the
10-gallon hat, barter and joke from dawn
until the close of trade before midday.
I travelled to Toraja with my entire family,
and, embraced by the warmth and friendliness
of the people, we felt at ease. Eating in local
cafés and accepting an invitation to a feast in
a private home introduced us to a culture
that is rich in tradition.

Fern tips cooked with dried coconut and
candlenut is a favourite side dish, and the use
of the fern and the bitter gourd is important
as they aid in the digestion of the meat and
again illustrate just how sophisticated this
‘simple’ cultural cuisine really is.

Torajan food is truly food of the land; no
matter how we in the West ‘boutique’ and
‘artisanalise’ our farms and our production,
nothing can really beat the gamey taste of
freshly cooked meats, or the delicious,
tender pa’piong – traditional rotisserie pork
– that falls to your plate from bamboo tubes
that have lain steaming over charcoal,
embraced only in garlic, salt and pepper,
served with sharply piquant sambals, fresh
green water spinach and soft rice. In the
warungs we ate the tender pa’piong burak
manuk, a plump bamboo-steamed village
chicken that is cooked with banana stem
and coconut. River fish is a popular lunch
meal; ikan pamarrasan soup is cooked with
kluwak (which comes from a large poisonous
fruit made edible through fermentation),
lemongrass, tamarind and bitter gourd,
and comes in another equally tasty version
made from pork ribs that is served in warungs
like Pong Buri’ on Jalan Emmy Saela.
This particular warung is also famed for
its pantollo lendong, a spiced eel dish that
seems to be eaten with each meal.

Caffeine fiends will find their nirvana here
in Toraja. Sulawesian coffee has a cleaner,
brighter aspect in comparison to the
traditional Indonesian coffee profile. With
advancing processing methods, the natural
flavour of Torajan beans really shines
through, while still maintaining familiar
Sulawesi characteristics of earthy herbaceous
notes. It has a maple-syrupy body while
retaining a clear taste profile, tangy acidity
and delightful flavours of chocolate nut
riding on melted-butter smoothness. I can’t
imagine a more perfect drink to enjoy in
these remarkable highlands.
Literally up in the clouds, Burros has
panoramic views that reach way down into
the river valleys, and, if nothing else, inspire
a desire to celebrate the beauty of nature.
A patchwork of fields and terraces, dotted
with grazing buffalo, the small shacks of
farmers and lunar-like stone mounds and
monoliths, stretch out to the east and west,
while behind, the sky-scraping cliffs are
encircled by broad-winged eagles. The

geography enhances an understanding
of Torajan beliefs.
Torajans speak with a gentle earthy wisdom,
live within provided means and, as I have
experienced it, are the sort of people who
are dedicated to their culture of embracing
life through farming and death as a
continuation of responsibility and ritual.
While the journey to reach this fascinating
place is long, it is a rewarding and thoroughly
satisfying experience that you will remember
long after you’ve left; not just for the taste of
the food and the aroma of their coffee, but
more for the underlying philosophies of the
people and how they live, eat and drink.