Beyond Yield: The Quiet Revival of Indonesia’s Forgotten Rice Heritage

When the Green Revolution in Indonesia was announced by Soeharto in a ceremonial rice field in West Java in the late 1960s, it promised to double farmers’ harvests and make Indonesia strong. Farmers at the foot of Mount Lawu, whom I met when I still lived in Indonesia, recalled that government agents came to their…

Indonesian Food Glossary

Indonesian cuisine encompasses distinct cooking traditions across an archipelago of 17,504 islands spanning 5,120 kilometers. Each region contributes signature dishes: spicy and bold dishes the Western part of Indonesia, coconut-infused rice dishes from Java, complex beef rendang from Padang, and fresh seafood preparations from the Eastern Realm of the Archipelago. Indonesian cooking centers on specific…