“Endowing Indonesian cuisine with its irreplicable, nuanced complexity and filling the hearts of its diners, the herbs and spices that go into bumbu have also charted the course of world history for thousands of years.”
You might have heard of this term thrown about by connoisseurs of Indonesian cuisine: bumbu. Translating to ‘flavour’ or ‘seasoning’, bumbu is the central pillar of Indonesia’s epicurean landscape and is not to be confused with rempah meaning ‘spices’. Getting a type of bumbu correct is hardly as simple as following a recipe from an Indonesian chef or off the Internet.
Arini, a domestic worker working in Singapore, fondly recalls learning how to prepare different kinds of bumbu in her mother’s kitchen. “I was taught to make the bumbu of popular local dishes, which mostly require turmeric, lemongrass, candlenut and so on,” describes the native of Indramayu, a city in West Java that is steeped in history. She shares that Indonesia’s famous dishes like soto ayam and mie goreng are beloved across all of the archipelago’s islands, but the recipes for their bumbu vary from region to region.
“Good chefs mix their own bumbu and don’t rely on instant mixes,” remarks Arini, who opts for grinding spices with a pestle and mortar to make her own, instead of turning to a blender.
Endowing Indonesian cuisine with its irreplicable, nuanced complexity and filling the hearts of its diners, the herbs and spices that go into bumbu have also charted the course of world history for thousands of years.
The Spice War
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Denne historien er fra April - June 2021-utgaven av WINE&DINE.
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New Blood
The next-generation is breathing new life into the forgotten art of spice-mixing, peppering the traditional trade with renewed ideas and fresh perspectives.
Sharing Is Caring
Compared to its flagship at Serene Centre, Fat Belly Social at Boon Tat Street is a classier and bolder affair, in more than one sense.
Nutmeg's Role In Singapore's History
From tales of it being used to ward off the plague in mid-1300s Europe to one of the ingredients in dessert, we have all known, tasted, or at least heard of nutmeg. But not many know of the spice’s role in Singapore’s history.
New And Improved
The ever-profound chef-owner Kenjiro ‘Hatch’ Hashida finds more room, three to be exact, to express a Ha Ri philosophy at Hashida Singapore’s new location at Amoy Street.
Pairing Spice-Driven Cuisines With Wine
Pairing spice-driven cuisines with wine has long been a challenge but with a little imagination, it doesn’t have to be.
Let Land Grow Wild
Niew Tai-Ran has worn many hats: aeronautical engineering major, investment banker, avid surfer, and, for the last 14 years, winemaker. Discover how this Malaysia-born, Singapore-native is championing the “do-nothing farming” philosophy at his vineyard in Oregon.
The South Asian Misnomer
Incredibly diverse and varied than most know, Indian food is far more intriguing than butter chicken or thosai. Here is a crash course on the extensive cuisine from region to region, recognisable for the seemingly infinite ways of using spices.
Keepers Of The Spice Trade
From its glory days along trade routes to pantry staples all over the world, spices have become so commonplace that we’ve taken them for granted. For these three trailblazers, however, spice is their livelihood and motivation: Langit Collective working with indigenous rural farming communities in Malaysia; IDH’s Sustainable Spice Initiative; and chef Nak’s one-woman mission to share forgotten Khmer cuisine.
Sugar, Spice And Everything Nice
Like food, spices bring vibrancy and variety to alcoholic beverages. Surfacing in unexpected ways on the palate, find everything from cumin to tamarind, cloves to cardamom enriching these drinks.
Building Blocks From The Archipelago
For the smorgasbord of dishes found in Indonesian cuisine, it is a little known secret that the modest bumbu, in all its variants, is the bedrock of such flavourful fare.
