Conociendo más de otras culturas...

A different culture: Indonesia

COUSINE: Indonesia culture has been influenced by different countries such as China and India. However Indonesian cuisine has also contributed to the cuisines of neighboring countries. So let‘s start to observe some differences from our country:
-Like Peruvian people most native Indonesians eat rice as the main dish; they agree to it a wide range of vegetables and meat as side dishes. However, in some parts of the country, like Irian Jaya and Ambon, the majority of the people eat sago and sweet potato.  
-The most important aspect of Indonesia cuisine is that food must be halal, it means they can’t eat pork and alcoholic drinks, conforming to Islamic food laws. However in some regions there are people who served it, because they don’t profess other religions.
-Something characteristic about Indonesian food is the application of spicy peanut sauce in their dishes. The most popular dishes include Nasi Goreng (fried rice), Satay, Nasi Padang and soy-based dishes, such as Tofu and Tempe. Another unique aspect of Indonesian cuisine is using terasi or belacan, a pungent shrimp paste in dishes of sambal oelek (hot pungent chili sauce). The sprinkling of fried shallots also gives a unique crisp texture to some Indonesian dishes.
-It is very common to find Chinese food in Indonesia such as Dim Sum as well as noodles, and Indian cuisine such as Tandoori chicken. In addition, Western culture has significantly contributed to the extensive range of dishes. However, the dishes have been transformed to suit Indonesian people's tastes. For example, steaks are usually served with rice.
- Different from India cuisines, which consider the cow sacred, in restaurants of Indonesia denominated “Padang” by the culture, the food of it is usually spicy and abundant cow’s meet. In these places they usually eat with knife, fork (left hand) and spoon (right hand), but there are places like Java from west where they eat with their fingers.