TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Making a dish called `Ie Bu Peudah` during Ramadan is an old tradition existing in Aceh Besar Regency. People usually eat the dish as takjil, to open an iftar course.
“The tradition to cook Ie Bu Peudah only exists in Aceh Besar, not in other regions. And only few villages and subdistricts carrying on the tradition,” said Hasanuddin, an Ie Bu Peudah maker in Bung Bak Jok Village, Kuta Baro Sbdistrict, Aceh Besar, to Tempo.
Hasanuddin and his four colleagues seemed busy preparing the dish after dzuhur (around afternoon) in the side yard of local meunasah (Islamic education center). The rice was cooked inside a giant pan that was permanently made on a cement furnace. The rice was first washed and mixed with spices before cooked inside the pan. The cook would then stir the it while maintaining stable flame.
Hasanuddin and his colleagues worked together to preserve the tradition that has been lasting for hundreds of years.
“We take turn to cook the dish. Five young men take the duty each day from the start of Ramadan until the last night. Those who are not coming for his duty will be fined,” said Wahid, a resident of Bung Bak Jok.
According to Wahid, the cost to make the dish is sourced from donations made by surrounding residents.
Cooking Ie Bu Peudah requires more than two hours. When the dish is ready after Ashar time, the children would visit the meunasah to have some of the porridge. The dish will also served to guests or travelers who stop by the meunasah for iftar.
According to Hasanuddin, Ie Bu Peudah is unique because it uses 44 kinds of plantations and leaves as its ingredients. Among these ingredients are pepper, curcuma, galangal, garlic, shredded coconut, clove leaf and seeds, sitahe leaf, seumalu bate leaf, breadfruit leaf, and pandan leaf.
During the cooking process, the porridge is stirred using young bamboo piece that leaves particular aroma to the dish. The ingredients make the dish ‘peudah’ that means hot. This spicy hot flavor is believed to keep body fresh all day during Ramadan.
ADI WARSIDI
