TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Tourism Ministry named five Indonesian dishes as national culinary, namely Soto (soup dish), Rendang (beef dish), Nasi Goreng (fried rice), Sate (satay), and Gado-Gado (vegetable salad with peanut sauce).
The decision, Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said, was made since Indonesia has not yet determined its national dish. “For example, Thailand is known for its Tom Yum and Malaysia for its Nasi Lemak. While Indonesia has many foods and so it is our problem of plenty,” said Arief during a press conference on Tuesday, September 18, in Tourism Ministry, Jakarta.
Read: Indonesia Needs to Have National Cuisine, Tourism Minister Say
Minister Arief said an attempt to increase tourist arrivals in the country through culinary tourism run smoothly thus far. However, the ministry must take further efforts to attract foreign tourist to visit the country.
Arief mentioned Soto was already selected as the national cuisine by five institutions that led by Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) because it has widely spread in the archipelago. Three of five national culinary had been acknowledged by CNN as the World’s Most Delicious Food.
The ministry also set three cities as the culinary destination, namely Bali, Bandung, and Yogyakarta.
Read: There are 19 Types of Rendang; Any of Them Crispy?
Other than attracting tourists through national foods and culinary destinations, the ministry planned to conduct co-branding with Indonesian restaurants abroad.
Minister Arief admitted that not many Indonesian restaurants exist overseas, unlike Thailand, China, and Japan. “We will do co-branding with the Indonesian restaurants, so the Tourism Ministry obliges to promote them.”
ANTARA