Starfruit (malangkota.go.id) – Java is indeed rich in various traditions, one of which is the tradition of serving food using banana leaves as a base or wrapper that has been maintained since ancient times until now. It turns out that there are nine types of food bases or traditional food wrapping techniques from banana leaves with their respective names.
Various types of methods and names for serving food using banana leaves were discussed at the Polowijen Cultural Village (KBP) during the Hasta Karya Workshop, Saturday (10/2/2024) which was attended by members of the Polowijen Village TP PKK and the Bersanggul Nusantara Women (PBN).
The initiator of KBP, Isa Wahyudi, said that the idea for the Hasta Karya Workshop started from the concerns of parents of dance students who took their children to dance practice but had no other activities besides waiting. "These mothers actually want to make crafts, but the challenge is crafts made from natural materials while also having a nuance of preserving tradition. In addition to being environmentally friendly, this is also important to provide education for the next generation," explained the man who is familiarly called Ki Demang.
The resource person who was present in this activity was Oemi Solekan who is also a PBN administrator. According to him, training like this is very important to get to know the various types of food wrappers from banana leaves. "It turns out that banana leaves are not only used to wrap the food served, but are also sometimes used to wrap offerings in traditional ritual events," explained Oemi who is also a cultural preservation figure from Batu City.
The workshop entitled 'Getting to Know 9 Types of Food Wrappers or Bases in the Javanese Community' was very lively because it was attended by 20 prospective brother and priest students from the Widya Sasana Malang School of Philosophy and Theology. The TP PKK mothers and students who mostly came from NTT were also very enthusiastic about participating in the training.
Nine types of ways to wrap or serve food using banana leaf food mats in the Javanese style, namely:
1. The pincuk
Of course, food wrappers made from banana leaves called pincuk are common and quite familiar among the people. Pincuk is often used as a wrapper for pecel or nasi gudangan. Pincuk itself is a container made of banana leaves folded into a triangle, like a cone with a stick pinned at the end.
2. Paste
This type of wrapping is quite easy to make. Just by folding and tucking the leaves, the food can be held well. Tempelang is usually used to wrap various types of rice or sticky rice, noodles, and urap.
3. Takir
Takir is usually used as a container for market snacks, wet or soupy foods such as porridge, jenang sumsum, or banana kolak. Takir is made from banana leaves and folded to resemble a square bowl. At both ends of the fold, a stick is attached to make it stronger to hold the food inside.
4. Please
Sudi is made from banana leaves in a circle shape with a pointed triangular tip in the middle. Sudi is used as a container for dry side dishes in celebrations, cakes, market snacks, and others.
5. Samir
Samir is a food base made of banana leaves in a round shape. Usually, samir is placed on a plate or food basket. In the market, where vendors sell pecel or market snacks, their wares are usually given this round banana leaf base.
6. The Pine
Pinjung is a leaf wrapper in the shape of a square pyramid. Its function is to wrap traditional snacks such as bugis cake, mendut, nagasari.
7. Chopsticks
Sumpil is a leaf wrapper that forms a triangle. Sumpil is usually used to wrap food made from sticky rice and also lemet.
8. Tum
Tum is the most frequently used packaging for pepes, botok, and garang asem.
9. Shackles
If the pinjung fold faces down and is closed, then the pasung fold is the opposite. If you look at the pasung fold, it will resemble an ice cream cone. How to make a pasung fold is very easy. First, we need a round banana leaf, then we just roll it into a cone shape, and finally put in the filling. (say/yon)
