LIFE | FOOD

the best of us Myrna Pohan and Selly Wilson accompanied by traditional dancers and is history always served by at least two waiters; in its and heyday, there would be one waiter to each heritage Clockwise dish. Now quite rare in its full glory, Tugu from left: the Feast of Flavours Kunstkring Paleis is one of few still doing the Gallery Dining whole procession with 12, 16, or 24 menus. Room; the Myrna Pohan and Selly Wilson enjoy Betawi’s rich colonial culinary Twelve white tureens carried in a woven Diponegoro roots at Tugu Kunstkring Paleis’s heritage building with rattan basket that hung from a pikulan, or a Room; Sayur Edith Emeralda Gambas long pole hauled between two waiters, arrived Udang while Myrna and Selly enjoyed their drinks. ust before dusk ended one captured by General de Kock under the guise Paired with , the ladies excitedly balmy day, two chic ladies of peace talks, Anhar is also in the frame as the discussed about which mains to be tasted dressed in black alighted in painter who recorded the event. Antiques of first between theopor -style duck in coconut front of a white concrete edifice the Yogyakarta and Surakarta sultanates from milk: ox tongue stew in sweet with two domed towers in Anhar’s private collection further transport a la Betawi, or the minced beef sate New Indies style circa 1914: diners to Java in the 19th century. lembut Betawi. “Try the duck,” Selly said, “It the Tugu Kunstkring Paleis. Up the grand staircase and to the right, the melts in your mouth and easily falls off the Through an airy lounge strewn with colonial- two best friends arrived in the era of Soekarno, bone.” Myrna, who sat across from her, gladly style furniture, Myrna Pohan and Selly ’s first president. After a short pause savoured her second sate lembut, a rare gem Wilson paused a moment upon entering the to admire Anhar’s collected artifacts in relation on Betawi menus. Diponegoro Room. The main dining hall is to the room’s namesake, they moved on to Between dips in green chili sauce, snaps named after a 9m by 4m painting, The Fall of the Hercules Room for a special Rijstaffel of crackers and melinjo chips, and Java, painted in 18 months by the owner of Betawi dinner. Harking back to the colonial crunches of -based pickles, Selly and Tugu Group, Anhar Setjadibrata. plantations, rijstaffel—meaning the rice Myrna exchanged news about their lives, Capturing one of the pivotal moments in table—is a way to showcase Indonesia’s rich which are oft-intertwined due to their friend

Javanese history when Prince Diponegoro was cuisine and culture. The feast is sometimes t o k urnia and heri b heryan irwan p ho t ogra hy: circles and the Common Cause Charity.

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back in time Clockwise from above left: The Rijstaffel Betawi set; bitterballen for appetiser; 12 different dishes in the Betawi

Harking back to the colonial plantation, ‘rijstaffel’ is a way to rare gem showcase Indonesia’s rich cuisine and culture.

“We grow closer due to our active roles in based dressing; stir-fried sayur gambas—or the charity,” Selly said, “Besides that, early this luffa —with prawns and mushrooms; year I just launched a line of contact lenses,” and a dish of fried, air-dried that Selly said. She further explained that from a immediately piqued Selly and Myrna’s interest yearly bazaar the group gathers donations to in trying to recreate one at home. help fund special-needs children who require Selendang mayang, another rare treasure treatments and operations. among Jakarta’s traditional menus, closed As for Myrna, she’s also a film director at off their warm dinner with a refreshing mix buttonijo production house, an independent of coconut milk, brown , crushed movie maker, funder and distributor focusing ice, and chewy rice flour pudding naturally on fiction, documentaries, and anything in coloured green with pandanus leaf extract. between. “One of my ongoing projects is a Myrna and Selly slowly savoured the sweet- documentary on the Javanese native religion, and-savoury dessert before realising that it kejawen,” Myrna said. “This movie will be one was time to leave for a movie premiere that that’s quite deeply personal to me as the more they were both invited to. Old-time favourite Now only available in Tugu I searched into it, the more I looked into who Kunstkring Paleis and I am.” Tugu Kunstkring Paleis a few other places, Es Rounding off their journey through Betawi Jl. Teuku Umar No. 1, Menteng, Selendang Mayang is a cuisine were cooked with chilies and Central Jakarta treasured Betawi dessert preserved soya bean paste; karedok Betawi, Tel: (+62) 21 390 0899 with its unique textures a raw of cucumbers, bean sprouts, www.tuguhotels.com/restaurants/ and flavours. cabbage, long beans, and more in - jakarta/kunstkring/

136 indonesia tatler . august 2017