Ever had those moments where your breakfast should've been a lunch or dinner meal? Well, this morning was such an occasion where we had received a berkat from my aunt, who had held a selamatan (traditional Indonesian/Javanese religious service) for her deceased mother in law the evening before. When we had received the berkat we had just had a full meal, so we left it for the next day.
A selamatan or kenduren is traditionally held when someone is pregnant, or getting circumsised or when a baby will get her/his hair shaved for the first time and also when someone has died (7th day after the person has passed away and the 40th-, the 100th day and after 1000 days after the date of death). The kaum (Javanese priest/religious leader) will first hold a service and pray, during which the food is presented on the table and after the service the food will be served on banana leaves by members of the religious group and the mix of all of those dishes combined is called berkat.
For the one who doesn't eat much rice.
Each member is in charge of serving a part (rice, bami, ingkong chicken, seroendeng, sambel goreng ketang, goedangan, etc.) and I've seen them serve each part with a plate as utensil on banana leaves for everyone at the table. Usually it's the men who have a seat at the table and there used to be a law that the man needed to be circumsised. I don't know if that's the case nowadays, as some traditions evolve. If you're wondering "what about the women?" If the female doesn't have a husband or partner at the table, she usually has a male representative who will think of her (be it a brother, a grandson, a son in law, etc.) and will reserve a set of banana leaves for her. The women who've cooked all the dishes will furthermore receive their own package, which is called a warisan.
Snackbox (left to right: coconut doughnut, lapis, apem and bojo [not a traditional Javanese snack]).
Although berkat was traditionally reserved for those religious occasions, it's been commercialized and nowadays you could find this dish in leaves at some restaurants and warungs (food stands). Despite that availability it's been a while since we've had berkat and though it wasn't a happy occasion to receive it, we were really happy that my aunt had thought of us.
"Serving" the food with the hand at home.
It's also a tradition that the man of the household brings home the berkat to eat with every family member: everyone sits around the leaves and "digs in" as the food is customarily eaten by hand. In my opinion this food tastes better when eating it with your hands π and shared with loved ones. I didn't even leave something behind for a dog and @rarej asked if I was sure if I was able to eat it all and I showed him π π.
What traditions around food do you have in your culture/country? Would enjoy to read about it π.
Chasse into the backstage! π
I had never heard of this before, thanks for sharing. Cambodians have a lot of special dishes associated with certain holidays and occasions, very similar. Funny that bami is a cassava patty to Jamaicans and it is noodles to Surinamers. "Mii" is noodles is Cambodian, a similar pronunciation.
Another funny thing @fruityfruitz might like, in Cambodian "nyam" means to eat, so that would be the first word Jamaicans already know in Cambodian.
Was my pleasure and enjoyed writing this post π.
Yeah, so you see a lot of similarities and yes some differences. I learned that the Philippines also have a kind of similar tradition: that after a loved one has died and the family will also come together after a distinct period. The difference is the time frame after which they come together.
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ENGAGEtokens.Thatβs a lot of culture. Sounds kinda Buddhist the way certain things are done days after the death. The levels of reaching to heaven or something like that?
So... I've never asked the why... π π. I only took it as "ok so that's what they do." But I should definitely ask more though, even if it's not my religion.
And indeed, the Javanese religion or "West prayers" (in contrast to Muslims Javanists pray to the West or something like that) is a mix of budhism, hinduism, (maybe) islam. I've even seen plays of the Ramayan played by Javanese people.
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ENGAGEtokens.This looks delicious. I especially like the idea of eating with your hands. The last picture is equally awesome.
Hahahaa so I wasn't sure if I should've posted the last photo though π , but thanks for the feedback.
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π lol. Its the evidence that shows the food was great.
ENGAGEtokens.Interesting facts and looks quite yummy.
Thank you and it was π .
Doing my best to also share what I know.
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Good to see keep that good work up π
Thanks and will do π
ENGAGEtokens.Berkat looks delicious something I would like to try sometime
It is... It's the blend of all those flavors combined that work well together.
I think that wherever there's a Javanese or maybe Indonesian community, there's a chance you might find it among them. Even in the Netherlands, where I also have some family members, you could find this berkat.
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Nice ππ
ENGAGEtokens.I don't think I had one. But I did had those moments where my dinner should've been for lunch.
Hahaha what dish was that?
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I couldn't remember because they were so many times that it happened to me. I skipped lunch and had to eat at dinner time. So, in essence, that should've been for my lunch. π
Ahahaha yeah I know those moments. I've skipped breakfast a few times and had to directly start my lunch or dinner.
ENGAGEtokens.I enjoyed this. Quite cultural.
Whatβs bami? I wondered if itβs similar to something we have in Jamaica. You surely showed @rarej that you could eat it all. ππ
Hahaha yeah I did. He actually knows that I can eat big portions, but there have been some times that I couldn't finish the large meals.
Bami are the fried egg noodles.
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πI found it a bit funny. Hehe!
Ok. In Jamaica, βbammyβ is a cassava cake.
Ah ok now I know. I hope I remember it whenever I'm in Jamaica π
Itβs often had with fish.π