The Jakarta Fashion and Food
Festival in Kelapa Gading is famous for bringing together signature dishes from
across the archipelago. In the midst of this culinary celebration, one man
stands out. Juggling mini woks and eggs is Bang Kamaludin, 32, purveyor of some
of the finest kerak telor in Jakarta.
His family has been making and selling the traditional Jakarta dish since the 1900s, when it cost a couple of cents. Today, the native Betawi offers us a lesson in kerak telor.
So you’re a native Betawi, but of all the traditional Betawi foods, why did you choose kerak telor? Why not ketoprak or gado-gado?
Well, the dish runs deep in my family. I started making kerak telor when I was a teenager just to follow in my parents’ footsteps, because they sold kerak telor. After lots of trial and error I finally managed to make a kerak telor that was quite tasty, and that was when I decided to take the job seriously.
But did you do this out of some obligation or sense of responsibility to follow in your parents’ footsteps?
Of course not. I eventually came to enjoy the whole process very much. I enjoy making this delicacy and simply wanted to inherit the skills of making this delicious snack.
Snack? So you don’t consider kerak telor a main meal?
No, I think it can be a meal. People have done different variations, making a tastier kind of ketan [sticky rice] and adding local spices, ebi [dried shrimp] and serun deng [fried shredded coconut] to make it more delicious.
Tell us a bit about your stall here. Where you keep things in your cart and how you handle the ingredients.
The cart on my left contains all the half-cooked spices, and that is also where I keep the eggs for the kerak telor. After the spices are all cooked together with the eggs and ketan, I use the other side of the cart to add the ebi, serundeng and fried onions.
Is there a difference between original kerak telor cooked by a Betawi and other versions?
Well, the original is delicious, like mine, but as most Betawi people already know, the first kerak telor was actually made with duck eggs, not chicken eggs. Most kerak telor sellers will let the customer choose what kind of eggs they want to use. But for me, I only make my dish with duck eggs — no compromising on taste and authenticity.
Like seasonal kerak telor sellers, do you only sell your dish at fairs or festivals?
No, I make and sell kerak telor regularly inside the food court at Kelapa Gading mall, every day from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. I even have my own business card. But I also always take part in annual festivals here in La Piazza, Serpong, and also in the Jakarta Fair.
When I’m busy taking care of my stall at festivals, I have some Betawi relatives and friends to help me take care of my booth in Kelapa Gading mall.
How do you set yourself apart from all the other kerak telor carts?
Here are some tips that I always give to people. During the Jakarta Fair, original Betawi vendors always sell kerak telor inside, not outside.
So make sure you order while you’re inside enjoying the fair, not outside when you’re on your way home. And if you want to go to my booth, just find the cart with my business card on display.
Do you hire non-Betawi workers?
Well, I have lots of Betawi relatives and friends, so I have never hired any non-Betawi so far, but if someday I need some extra workers, maybe I can hire them to serve the food while my Betawi workers do the cooking.
Talking about serving, how long does it take you to prepare a serving of kerak telor?
It takes approximately three minutes to cook and serve a dish of kerak telor. I have to be fast, especially if there are many buyers waiting, like now.
Does the cost change depending on which event you are working at?
Yes, the highest price comes at the Jakarta Fair, Rp 15,000, because the rent is higher there. But usually I sell a serving for only Rp 12,000.
Bang Kamaludin was talking to Elisa Effendy.
His family has been making and selling the traditional Jakarta dish since the 1900s, when it cost a couple of cents. Today, the native Betawi offers us a lesson in kerak telor.
So you’re a native Betawi, but of all the traditional Betawi foods, why did you choose kerak telor? Why not ketoprak or gado-gado?
Well, the dish runs deep in my family. I started making kerak telor when I was a teenager just to follow in my parents’ footsteps, because they sold kerak telor. After lots of trial and error I finally managed to make a kerak telor that was quite tasty, and that was when I decided to take the job seriously.
But did you do this out of some obligation or sense of responsibility to follow in your parents’ footsteps?
Of course not. I eventually came to enjoy the whole process very much. I enjoy making this delicacy and simply wanted to inherit the skills of making this delicious snack.
Snack? So you don’t consider kerak telor a main meal?
No, I think it can be a meal. People have done different variations, making a tastier kind of ketan [sticky rice] and adding local spices, ebi [dried shrimp] and serun deng [fried shredded coconut] to make it more delicious.
Tell us a bit about your stall here. Where you keep things in your cart and how you handle the ingredients.
The cart on my left contains all the half-cooked spices, and that is also where I keep the eggs for the kerak telor. After the spices are all cooked together with the eggs and ketan, I use the other side of the cart to add the ebi, serundeng and fried onions.
Is there a difference between original kerak telor cooked by a Betawi and other versions?
Well, the original is delicious, like mine, but as most Betawi people already know, the first kerak telor was actually made with duck eggs, not chicken eggs. Most kerak telor sellers will let the customer choose what kind of eggs they want to use. But for me, I only make my dish with duck eggs — no compromising on taste and authenticity.
Like seasonal kerak telor sellers, do you only sell your dish at fairs or festivals?
No, I make and sell kerak telor regularly inside the food court at Kelapa Gading mall, every day from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. I even have my own business card. But I also always take part in annual festivals here in La Piazza, Serpong, and also in the Jakarta Fair.
When I’m busy taking care of my stall at festivals, I have some Betawi relatives and friends to help me take care of my booth in Kelapa Gading mall.
How do you set yourself apart from all the other kerak telor carts?
Here are some tips that I always give to people. During the Jakarta Fair, original Betawi vendors always sell kerak telor inside, not outside.
So make sure you order while you’re inside enjoying the fair, not outside when you’re on your way home. And if you want to go to my booth, just find the cart with my business card on display.
Do you hire non-Betawi workers?
Well, I have lots of Betawi relatives and friends, so I have never hired any non-Betawi so far, but if someday I need some extra workers, maybe I can hire them to serve the food while my Betawi workers do the cooking.
Talking about serving, how long does it take you to prepare a serving of kerak telor?
It takes approximately three minutes to cook and serve a dish of kerak telor. I have to be fast, especially if there are many buyers waiting, like now.
Does the cost change depending on which event you are working at?
Yes, the highest price comes at the Jakarta Fair, Rp 15,000, because the rent is higher there. But usually I sell a serving for only Rp 12,000.
Bang Kamaludin was talking to Elisa Effendy.
Comment :
The Jakarta Fashion and Food Festival in Kelapa Gading is
best idea to bringing together signature dishes from across the archipelago. In
this modern days, the fastfood restorant mushrooming and only serving western
cuisine, this certainly would make the traditional cuisine from indonesia
forgotten and left behind because people prefer instant and westernized. The
jakarta fashion and food festival will make people who wanted the traditional
food or home cooking met. Like bang Kamaludin he still devotedly sell Kerak
Telor. Not just to follow his parent footsteps which also sell Kerak Telor, he
sell Kerak telor because he love every single moment of the process making
Kerak Telor and of course to make Kerak Telor exist between western cuisine. I
think this festival should be held every year,so that the traditional food keep
exist between the community.
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