I know this topic is a bit out of place, but I, myself was also curious why in most celebration, Indonesians love to serve Nasi Tumpeng as the main course.
So here's the history behind that I copy paste from Wikipedia
So here's the history behind that I copy paste from Wikipedia
Tumpeng is a cone-shaped rice dish with side dishes of vegetables and meat. Traditionally featured in the slamatan ceremony, the rice is made by using a cone-shaped woven bamboo container. The rice itself may be plain steamed rice, uduk rice (cooked with coconut milk), or yellow rice (uduk rice colored with kunyit (turmeric)).
The rice cone is erected in the tampah (rounded woven bamboo container), covered with a banana leaf, and surrounded by assorted Indonesian dishes.
The cone-shaped rice meant to mimics the holy mountain. The feast served as a thanksgiving for the abundance of harvest or any other blessings. Tumpeng is a symbol of gratitude.
In modern days, tumpeng has different variation, it's no longer cone shaped rice, but they can be served in different shape according to the feast theme.
The cone shaped rice is surrounded by assorted Indonesian dishes, such as urap vegetables, ayam goreng (fried chicken), ayam bakar (grilled chicken), empal gepuk (sweet and spicy fried beef), abon sapi (beef floss),telur pindang (boiled marble egg), shredded omelette, tempe orek (sweet and dry fried tempeh), perkedel kentang (mashed potato fritters), perkedel jagung (corn fritters), sambal goreng ati (liver in chilli sauce), and many other things.
Traditionally there should be a balance between vegetables, egg, meat, and seafood.
According to folklore in Java and Bali, the cone-shaped tumpeng is a mystic symbol of life and ecosystems. It also symbolizes the glory of God as the Creator of nature, and the side dishes and vegetables represent the life and harmony of nature. The authentic and complete tumpeng dishes should contain at least one meat to represent a land animal, fish to represent sea creatures, an egg to represent winged beasts, and vegetables that represent a food stock provided by the plant kingdom.
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