TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Culinary Week held by the Indonesian Embassy in Moscow, Russia, and opened by Indonesian Ambassador to the Russian Federation M. Wahid Supriyadi on Friday, March 3, 2014, attracted more than 100 visitors.
Antara reported from Moscow on Saturday, March 4, 2015, that attending the event was ambassadors of ASEAN countries, Russian government officials, business owners and reporters attended the event, although the temperature was 2 degrees Celsius.
The guests sat on chairs provided at a restaurant balcony at the Lotte Trade Center at Novinsky Boulevard.
After the opening, the guests enjoyed various dishes, such as fried rice, rendang steak, and chicken stew prepared by chefs from the Indonesia Satu Foundation.
Chef Roberto Gentur Respati, Chef Agus Hermawan and Chef Eduard Roesdi assisted by Reno Lubis were busy at the kitchen to prepare the dishes. Ekaterina Makanina from Rusia, Saori Watanabe from Japan and Elisabeth Nila from Indonesia performed traditional dances, such as Jaipong and Rantak, on stage. The event also screened a video promoting Indonesian tourism and culture.
Ambassador Wahid said that the Embassy wanted to introduce Indonesian dishes since Russians are always enthusiastic in trying new food.
“Russian people are tolerant and multicultural. They always want to try new dishes,” Wahid said.
Ambassador Wahid revealed that during his terms of office, he could not find any restaurant that serves Indonesian food.
Accoriding to Wahid, based on a survey conducted by CNN International back in 2011 Rendang from Padang, West Sumatera, and fried rice were recognized as two of the most delicious foods in the world. About 35,000 people participated in the survey.
Honorary guest with the Russian Foreign Ministry Lyudmila Vorobyeva expressed her appreciation for the Indonesian Culinary Week event.
“The two countries have established bilateral relationship, and the people of Rusia want to know Indonesia better through the food here,” Vorobyeva said.
A number of guests from Russia and other countries said that they are expecting restaurants that serve Indonesian foods.
“We’re happy that more people came to this event. We were told that there would be 80 people, and then the number increased to 100 people. The final count was more than 140 people,” Chef Roberto said.
ANTARA