Jakarta, March 11 (Antara) - One of the important factors that attract foreign tourists to visit a country is its culinary delicacy, which provides different selections of tastes and varieties for visitors to enjoy.
The cuisine of a country is part of the elements that support tourism of the country. In order to increase the arrivals of foreign tourists, Indonesia promotes its tourism by introducing its delicacies abroad, especially in China and Russia.
Tourism and culinary promotional activities were being organized by the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing, and a food festival was also held by the Indonesian Embassy in Moscow this week.
The Indonesian Embassy in Russia and Balkon, a top restaurant in an elite area of Novinskiy boulevard in Moscow, held the Indonesian Culinary Week from March 3 to 7.
During the culinary week, diners can enjoy typical Indonesian delicacies, such as fried rice, rending, and chicken noodle soup.
In Beijing, the Indonesian culinary festival is still ongoing. It is organized by the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing, in cooperation with JW Marriott Hotel and Garuda Indonesia Airlines, from March 10 to March 26 to introduce the archipelago's culinary specialties, particularly Balinese dishes.
"The people of Beijing and foreign tourists will have the opportunity to try various menus of the archipelago, especially Bali, for two weeks," Indonesian Ambassador to China Soegeng Rahardjo said while inaugurating the culinary festival at JW Harriott Hotel in Beijing on Friday night.
In order to guarantee the quality of foods presented during the event, JW Marriott Hotel invited three chefs from Bali, notably I Made Karyasa, Billi Oktorian, and Sandy Putra Permana and a bartender, I Made Adi Wirawan.
Balinese delicacies include lawar, made from chopped coconut, garlic, chilli, pork or chicken meat, and blood; and Bebek betutu, duck stuffed with spices and wrapped in banana leaves and coconut husks and cooked in a pit of embers.
Balinese sate, known as sate lilit, is made from spiced mince pressed onto skewers, which are often lemongrass sticks. Babi guling is a spit-roasted pig stuffed with chili, turmeric, garlic, and ginger.
The ambassador remarked that 1.4 million Chinese tourists had visited Indonesia last year.
"Showcasing the tradition, culture, and the beauty of several tourism destinations in Indonesia would hopefully boost the arrival of foreign tourists in Indonesia and help to realize the government's target of attracting 20 million foreign tourists by 2019," he pointed out.
Several visitors to the festival had visited the Indonesian tourist resort island of Bali, yet they would not want to miss out on the opportunity to sample the special delicacies of the island, such as plecing satay, lawar, betutu chicken, and roasted pig.
The guests are not only served delectable dishes but they can also watch the traditional dances performed by several students pursuing studies in Beijing.
The visitors were also offered an opportunity to make batik dresses guided by a Javanese culture expert, Widhyasmaramurti, from the University of Indonesia.
The event comprised a cultural and tourism promotion activity organized for the first time by the Indonesian embassy in Beijing this year.
Throughout this year, Indonesia will also organize several other promotional activities, including a cultural performance by Indonesian students, painting exhibition, and tourism expo.
In the previous years, the Indonesian embassy in Beijing had twice organized the same events in cooperation with several star-rated hotels.
In the meantime, the Indonesian culinary week was also organized by Russia. Indonesian Ambassador to Russia and Belarus Wahid Supriyadi stated in a press release received by Antara in London on Sunday (March 6) that the culinary week was intended to serve as a trial to gauge the possibility of opening an Indonesian restaurant in Moscow.
Ever since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Russian society has become more open and keen to taste a variety of culinary specialties of other countries that are introduced in Russia, including various food items from the Southeast Asian region.
It certainly offers entrepreneurs of Indonesian restaurants an opportunity to offer a taste of Indonesian cuisine to Russians.
The Indonesian Embassy in Russia has roped in three Indonesian chefs who had joined the "Indonesia Satu Foundation," headquartered in the Netherlands, and a group of individuals to promote Indonesian cuisine in the Netherlands, Europe, and the rest of the world.
The three chefs were Roberto Gentur Respati, Agus Hermawan, and Eduard Roesdi. They were also assisted by Reno Lubis to prepare the Indonesian delicacies.
While serving various Indonesian cuisines, the guests were also entertained by several traditional dance forms of Indonesia, including a Balinese dance of Oleg Tamulilingan, performed by a Japanese dancer Saori Watanabe; Sonteng dance from West Java Province, performed by Russian dancer Ekaterina Makanina; Rantak dance from West Sumatra, performed by Elisabeth Nila; and Genjring Krakatau dance from West Java, performed by Elisabeth Nila and Ekaterina Makanina.
The culinary week is open to public, and the guests visiting Balkon restaurant at night can witness traditional Indonesian dance performances.
"We are very pleased to be able to introduce Indonesian cuisine in line with international standards to the Russian society," Chef Respati stated.
Respati is also the ambassador of the Indonesia Chef Association in the Netherlands.
"We hope Indonesian cuisine, which we are serving for the first time in Moscow, would be favored by Russian society. We expect that an Indonesian restaurant will be opened soon in Russia to further popularize the Indonesian cuisine here," he noted.***1***(A014/INE)
EDITED BY INE/H-YH (T.A014/A/BESSR/A/Yosep) 11-03-2017 18:27 |
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar