Tag: indodutch

  • Rendang is Indonesia’s culinary masterpiece 11 of the best places to get it in LA

    Rendang is Indonesia’s culinary masterpiece 11 of the best places to get it in LA

    Growing up, the moment I caught the aroma of ground chiles, garlic, ginger, galangal and other spices sizzling in hot oil, I knew my mother was making rendang. Preparing this fragrant Indonesian dish is no easy feat, requiring a melange of ingredients to create a rich, full-bodied dry curry. It’s steeped in coconut milk and slow-cooked for hours until the oil from the milk separates to caramelize the meat, rendering it unbelievably tender and enveloping each succulent piece in a spicy, unctuous paste. The flavor is intense, complex, unforgettable — no wonder there were never any leftovers when my mom made it.

    “Eating rendang is like enjoying a rich sake where there’s distinct top notes, a robust body and a lingering aftertaste,” says Eric Tjahyadi, owner of Bone Kettle restaurant in Pasadena. “That’s really the best type of rendang — one that takes you to places.”

    Originally a method to preserve meat in Indonesia’s tropical climate, it’s also a dish that you can take with you. “Due to its dry nature and natural preservatives like turmeric and coconut, traditional rendang can be stored for several days at room temperature,” says Cobi Marsh, owner of Cobi’s restaurant in Santa Monica.

    The extended shelf life of rendang was vital for the Minangkabau people indigenous to West Sumatra who created the dish. In this matrilineal society where wealth and property passed from mother to daughter, young men were encouraged to leave the tribe in a rite of passage known as merantau, or wandering. They’d bring rendang with them on their journeys — both for nourishment and a taste of home as they sought knowledge, fortune and new experiences.

    To the Minangkabau, rendang is more than a dish or cooking method; it’s part of their cultural identity, a labor of love symbolizing wisdom, patience and perseverance. Despite its widespread availability today, rendang remains a culinary tradition with ceremonial importance. Raised in Surabaya in a Chinese Christian family before moving to Jakarta, my mother recalls visiting neighbors during Lebaran (the Indonesian name for two Islamic holidays, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha). These gatherings in this predominantly Muslim country saw people of different faiths, both Christians and Muslims, coming together to share in celebration — and rendang was always an important part of the feast.

    My mom brought the tradition of rendang with her when she came to California, just as Tjahyadi’s family did when they immigrated. “On holidays in the U.S., we wouldn’t have turkey or ham,” says Tjahyadi. “We’d have rendang. It was our own version of holiday meat.”

    With the rise of Indonesian and Southeast Asian restaurants in L.A., I’ve embarked on my own merantau of sorts with my mom, exploring rendang across the city. Just as every region in Indonesia has its own unique style of rendang, each restaurant here offers its own twist. Here’s a guide to some of our favorites — from those honoring tradition to others reimagining it in their own distinct way.

  • WIETEKE VAN DORT SERIOUSLY ILL

    WIETEKE VAN DORT SERIOUSLY ILL

    The Hague, May 29, 2024
     
    Wieteke van Dort is seriously ill. Louisa Johanna Theodora “Wieteke” van Dort (born May 16, 1943 in Soerabaya, Japanese-occupied Dutch East Indies) is a Dutch actress, comedian, singer, writer and artist of Indo (Eurasian) descent. On April 29, 1999, Queen Beatrixappointed her Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau
     
    The singer and actress has been diagnosed with cancer with radiation. All gigs and contractual obligations have been stopped immediately.
    Wieteke van Dort gained popularity in the seventies of the last century with television programs for the youth such as Oebele and De Stratemaker op zee show. Very beloved was also the Late Late Lien Show in which her alter ego Aunt Lien welcomed Indo guests and artists. Van Dort performed as Aunt Lien many times in the country and this year was seen in the feature film In love with Bali. Due to her illness, Wieteke van Dort has put down all her activities. She wants to spend the coming time in peace with her family and friends.
     
    This message applies as a notice. No further medical steps or treatments will be communicated.
     
    Wieteke by Dort Productions
    The Hague
  • The Dutch Government AKA the greatest thieves in mankind

    The Dutch Government AKA the greatest thieves in mankind

    From the hand of Mr Han Dehne.
    LET THE HISTORICAL FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

    Last year, King Willem Alexander of the Netherlands apologized to Indonesia for the excessive violence that Dutch soldiers were guilty of in the years after the Japanese occupation. It is a first step in the right direction, but no more than that.
    This was experienced by many – in the Netherlands – as a stab in the back. In addition, it was indicated through Indonesian President Jokowi that these apologies were not necessary.

    The king forgot to mention in his speech that in 1949 the Netherlands passed on the backpay debt to its own military and civil servants to Indonesia over 3.5 years of Japanese occupation. Supposedly: no debt transfer has ever taken place. The Republic of Indonesia has been deviously used as a lightning rod for a capital debt obligation in this regard.

    In 1966 it was agreed that the Indonesian government would pay 686 million guilders to compensate the families who fled from Indonesia and from Dutch New Guinea between 1958 and 1962 for the loss of their belongings. However, the State took the lion’s share of these reparations: only a fraction of the money was legally earmarked for the victims themselves.

    Likewise, what President Jokowi may not know is what happened during the negotiations over the disbursement of the amount Thailand paid to take over the Burma-Thailand Railway built by allied and indigenous forced laborers. The compensation of more than 1.2 million guilders for looted railway equipment from Java had to be paid to the Indonesian government in 1952 because it is the legal successor of the colony. The money was not transferred to ‘Jakarta’, but to the Dutch government. After which there is no trace of a transaction to Indonesia.

    And so there are more open files that concern Indonesia, including the money that Indonesian, Moluccan and Chinese victims of forced prostitution earned but never got paid because the money was deposited with the two Japanese war banks to finance the war machine. And after the war was confiscated by order of the Dutch government without the young women living in the Netherlands having seen a cent of it.

    BRIEF CONCLUSION: In its relentless colonial modus operandi to settle outstanding accounts, the State of the Netherlands has harmed its own former colony as much as all displaced families who have fled to the Netherlands. Including all protected Indonesian families whose fathers worked for the Dutch intelligence services. What neither the king nor the prime minister nor the members of the trade mission have foreseen: the lid has been lifted from the cesspool.

  • RIP Paatje Phefferkorn

    RIP Paatje Phefferkorn

    Verdi Phefferkorn von Offenbach (born 26 February 1922 and passed 1 January 2021), better known as ‘Paatje Phefferkorn’, is an Indo (Eurasian) practitioner of the Indonesian martial art Pencak Silat in the Netherlands. As one of its best known teachers he has played an important role in increasing the popularity of this Martial Art in the Netherlands and Europe.Paatje Phefferkorn is also the creator of the informal Indo flag and emblem.

    In 1931 at the age of 10 Phefferkorn started practicing Pencak Silat in Bandung, the Dutch East Indies. He became a prodigy and only Indo student at the Javanese Pencak Silat school of teacher Mr. Sumanto who practiced the style of ‘Setia Hati’. For 7 years he trained with Sumanto on a daily basis.

    When WWII broke out Phefferkorn enlisted as volunteer and became an air force armaments mechanic and air gunner. The aging Glenn Martin bombers at the secret airport of Samazinda where he was stationed were no match for the modern Japanese war machine and on 8 March 1942 he was made a POW. He managed to escape the Japanese prisoner camp and fled to the Preanger mountains where he joined other resistance fighters to engage the Japanese in a guerilla war. Despite the fact he was half Indonesian his blue eyes revealed he was not Javanese and he was caught during a razzia by the Kempeitai. Non of the other resistance fighters survived Japanese imprisonment. Phefferkorn barely survived himself and after Japan’s defeat in the war he only weighed 21 kilos.

    Due to the revolutionary violence during the Bersiap period following Japan’s capitulation, he was initially unable to leave the prison camp, but was too frustrated with the fact that he had to be protected by Japanese guards that he stole weapons and escaped their protective custody. He survived the Bersiap period and vainly attempted to build a home for his family during the chaotic years of the Indonesian Revolution. In one of the last so called repatriation waves he left Indonesia for the Netherlands.

    Penniless Phefferkorn arrived in the Netherlands with a family of 7 children and only continued the art of Pencak Silat for his personal training exercises. In 1967 he started a small school in the city of Utrecht. Soon he established a second school and in the end ran 17 schools throughout the Netherlands. He became part of the “Council Of Elders” advising the Dutch Pencak Silat union, BPSI (Bond Pencak Silat Indonesia). In 2013 he was officially inducted in the CBME’s National Dutch Hall of Fame for Martial Artists.

    Phefferkorn is also known as the creator of the ‘Indo Melati’ flag and emblem. The flag represents communal pride and loyalty and overal peace and non-violence supported by signs of defensibility.

    • The two tilted ‘siku-siku’ (tridents) and the ‘golok’ (sword) represent Indo people as advocates and fighters in words and deeds.
    • The middle of the triangle is reserved for the ‘kembang melati’ (jasmine flower); the flower represents charm and beauty. This flower particularly symbolizes Indo women.
    • The star on top symbolizes the brightness during a dark night and people that shine when times call for it.
    • The symbol is enclosed by a ‘padi’ halm (young rice stalk) on the left and right side. This symbolizes prosperity and good fortune.
    • At the bottom the word INDO is written in gold coloured capital letters

    You will be missed Paatje…

  • Moesson Magazine goes International.

    Moesson Magazine goes International.

    The younger generation Indos have grown up abroad and although they are still interested in their Indo roots and history, they can’t read about it, because as far as we know, there are no Indo magazines in English available. Up until now.
    When a few months ago Vivian Boon asked some of her acquaintances abroad what they would think about an English edition of Moesson, they all screamed: ‘Finally’ !  People are dying to read about their Indo heritage, they said, but cannot do it anywhere ?
    So Vivian Boon is proud to present to you the first Moesson International. It will appear every three months and it will feature articles from the Dutch edition, but also publish original content written by and for Indos abroad. She does hope you will like it and that you will spread the word, because only with your support and your subscriptions she can keep on publishing this unique magazine.
    Although, it’s not the first time that the Moesson magazine has gone ‘international’. In the 1960’s there used to be an American Tong Tong. Tjalie Robinson, founder of this magazine, published the American Tong Tong
    from 1962-1965 while he and his family lived in the USA.
    Tong-Tong and Moesson’s motto has always been ‘poekoel teroes’, which translates as ‘keep hitting’.
    In the first edition of the American Tong Tong, Vivian’s grandfather closed his opening article with these words, which also fit Moesson International: ‘Tong- Tong’s motto ‘poekoel teroes’ will be particularly vigorous in the Land of Baseball and Burgers. The American Tong- Tong will hit many homeruns. This edition is the first. Here it goes ! If you’d like to subscribe please send an email to info@moesson.com

  • Eddie Van Halen, a SoCal Indo, The Über Indo and Guitar God…

    Eddie Van Halen, a SoCal Indo, The Über Indo and Guitar God…

    ON THE GOING OF EDDIE VAN HALEN. Now that the shock waves around Eddie van Halen’s death are slowly ebbing away, here is a small in memoriam. The photo shows him together with his first wife Valerie Bertinelli,