Monthly Archives: November 2015

Bandung

Restaurant Review: Nasi Bancakan

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A colorful array of Sundanese fare presented all at once can be more festive than even the most complete warteg dishes or any given Padang restaurant. Last year we had the chance to visit Ma’ Uneh. Now, Abah Barna’s Nasi Bancakan is our new Sundanese envoy.

Visiting Nasi Bancakan in Bandung gives you at least three perks as a foodie. Firstly, it’s a one stop place for everything Sundanese. Secondly, it’s rare to actually find affordable Sundanese food in big cities nowadays but not here. Last but not least, you are helping to fulfill Abah Barna’s dream to preserve the true and rustic Sundanese cuisine.

The latter may sound so ideological but when you relate it with the first two reasons of why you should dine there, you will understand that Sundanese cuisine is actually in need of a revolutionary rejuvenation attempt to make its presence significant again and appealing for people of every age.

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Long standing restaurants of old, warung makan, and modern concept Sundanese are all but less appealing than international franchises in Indonesian big cities nowadays. The call for preservation of our traditional cuisines is now stronger than ever with the initiatives of influential F&B people up to the governmental level.

However, to make it sound simpler from the business point-of-view only, Abah Barna’s intuition was more than right when you see the success of Nasi Bancakan and his honest vision to reintroduce again the old recipes.

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Even though Abah Barna’s restaurant appears unadorned, the customers’ attention will soon be drawn by the charms of his Sundanese offering instead. At times, you will see Abah Barna himself taking care of several stations at once – from overseeing the grilled and steamed fish to serving the traditional es goyobod. Other than that, he will sit back, relax, smiling to everyone, and ready to tend the needs of his customers.

On the left side, you will find among the best of what Sundanese cuisine has to offer. From the Sundanese version of nasi liwet, fried chicken, gepuk (seasoned and fried pounded beef), tripe, gizzard, beef floss, ulukutek leunca (nightshade with oncom), tutut (paddy field mollusks), and seafood are presented vibrantly. What to follow next would be the usual additions of fried tofu, tempe, lalapan, and the all you can have sambals.

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Curious with the steamed food here? The pepes station offers various choices ranging from ikan peda, tilapia, tofu, mushroom, and more. Don’t forget the crispy fried jambal as the ultimate addition for your lunch.

The sole purpose to introduce Sundanese cuisine wholesomely is made complete by the presence of traditional desserts. From es goyobod to es puter, be sure to try the unique kue balok also as the accompaniment for your tea or coffee.

Quite similar in form with kue pukis but only a bit thicker, kue balok uses the cast iron pan as well. The real difference came from the use of additional hot bucket of coal to bake the upper side of it, rather than turning it upside down at times to make it cooked evenly. By using this technique, kue balok becomes multi-textured – crisp on the outer, mild and fulfilling on the inside.

Again, what’s best coming from this street food restaurant is also the quality that surpasses the price. With this, Nasi Bancakan will continue to become the talk of the town and also by the tourists from out of Bandung with its honest presentation of its food.

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NASI BANCAKAN
Halal-friendly
Some dishes are suitable for vegetarians

Address:
Jalan Trunojoyo no. 62, Bandung – Indonesia

Opening hours:
Daily, 10am – 10pm

Spend: IDR 15,000 – IDR 25,000 / person

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Featured in THE FOODIE MAGAZINE Aug 2015 edition

Download it for free here via SCOOP!

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Halal

10 cool facts about the average Muslim consumer (via halalmedia.net)

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Fresh from the recent American Muslim Consumer Conference (AMCC) in New Jersey, here are ten interesting facts about the average global Muslim consumer.

Unity in diversity.

1. The total global Muslim population is 1.6 billion, around 25% of the world’s population today. It’s expected to be nearly 50% of world population by 2050 if it continues to outpace global population growth by 1.5x-2x. The Muslim household on average is around 5 people per family compared to the United States at 2.6 people.

2. The typical Muslim demographic is younger. For example, in the Middle East, North Africa and the South Asian region, the focal geography of SM Advisory Group, almost 50% of the population is under the age of 25. Furthermore with a rising middle class and adoption of modern and urban trends the consumption potential is very attractive for decades to come.

3. The global shariah-compliant market is more than $2 trillion annually. This includes all products and services that a Muslim community would be a natural consumer of and includes halal food as well as Islamic banking.

4. The halal food market is approximately $632 billion or 16% of the global food industry. This already being a significant portion but also take into account the exponential growth rate of Muslims, therefore one can predict that the halal food industry will also grow to meet the needs of this booming population.

5. The Islamic finance market is estimated at $1 trillion. Islamic funds are only around $55 billion worldwide compared to conventional market at $22 trillion therefore as Islamic finance matures the upside to raising new capital and expanding the Islamic banking universe is significant.

6. US Muslims alone have a buying power of around $200 billion or $25,000 per capita. If the average Muslim population reaches even one fourth of the US Muslim consumer, spending level the global Muslim consumer spending would be around $10 trillion annually.

7. According to a recent gallup study, Muslim Americans have the least amount of income disparity between the genders. The Muslim American community also happens to be the most ethnically diverse.

8. Muslims account for 16% of the $100 billion Kosher market because of limited halal products, therefore just as a starting point there appears to be an established $16 billion food market in the US ripe for halal food manufacturers.

9. Ad spending in the Arab world is $6 per capita compared to North America at $369, Europe $117, Asia $23 and Africa $7, hence for marketers and advertising firms there is an untapped market completely.

10. Nestle is one of the largest halal food manufacturers with halal sales of more than $5 billion. 75 out of 481 Nestle factories produce halal food worldwide. Halal food is approximately 5% of Nestle’s sales. As companies look to take advantage of growth in the Muslim consumer market it is quite likely that they focus on bespoke marketing on everything from pharmaceuticals to insurance and baby formula.

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Written by Saud Masud

Source: halalmedia.net, elanthemag

101, Miscellaneous

All The Fun Cooking Games at poki.com

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The golden era of lengthy console and PC gaming era may not yet over for some, but in this era, there’s a huge demand from the owners of smartphones or laptop users over something simpler and faster.

The early 21st century saw a peaked interest of gamers playing arcade-style puzzle games over their laptop and PC. Pursuing perfection or high scores on every level that the game provides became a challenge of its own like the olden days of arcade machines.

Today, we saw the development of more genres but still faithful to the similar mission of providing the gamers a simple yet challenging entertainment. The basic formula is to build, to best the challenges, and to proceed from one level to another. This is where poki.com excels at and of course, by not providing one or two genres but a lot of them!

As you can see here, the opening page displays a lot of options even with users of high familiarity over this type of gaming. Users can first choose the language and sort their preference by choosing the genre or based on popularity.

1 poki - welcome
poki.com/id opening page
The list of games
The list of games
List of games by categories
List of games by categories

It was clear for me that the genre that I am looking forward most is all about cooking or anything related to food. While that was quite apparent, I was very much intrigued to try other genres as well. Perhaps after this one!

List of cooking games
List of cooking games

But which to choose? I decided to seek the most popular one and chose Papa’s Pastaria as a starter.

I expected that this will be something like rushing out to serve the best for your restaurant’s customers. Well, it’s quite similar but apparently Papa’s Pastaria has this twist that makes it different than the rest.

Papa's Pastaria
Papa’s Pastaria

What I appreciate from poki.com aside the large collections of games is also the attention to details such as providing the walkthrough video of every game and for Papa’s Pastaria itself with a story background supported by an intro video.

Walkthrough
Walkthrough

Perhaps due to the magnitude of the project, the graphic quality was made sufficient for any specs and internet bandwidth, especially here in Indonesia with all of the speed limitations as we know it. Therefore, the drawing quality may not be that intricate or too artistic or the game itself too heavy, but it’s good to know that it runs well and ultimately – entertaining.

The order begins
The order begins

Papa’s Pastaria is quite challenging, but the tutorial was helpful enough to get you started with the dynamics. The rest is, of course, up to the learning curve that you receive from every level of it.

8 cook 9 build 10 bread

The mission is to serve your customers with their custom orders of pasta. The challenge lies with the customization itself – from choosing the type of pasta, how to cook it al dente, and finally to the assembly line of sauces, cheese, sides, and lastly the bread toasting as well as delivering it for the customer.

11 eval 12 shop

Your execution with the dish will reflect their judgment and in the end, the tip you will get for restaurant improvements and other bonus is entirely up to their satisfaction. While it may be quite straightforward, but the building of the dish itself and the time management will intrigue even the most experienced players. It’s something that I often test to myself as a self-claimed experienced gamer, mind you. 😉

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To sum up my experience with poki.com’s Papa Pastaria, I was thoroughly pleased with the whole experience. Everything from the start was made streamlined and users can decide the best course to proceed with their gaming experience.

Each of the game was designed with both a degree of simplicity for easy access and intricacy for the challenge. The best thing about it definitely the experience itself but the added value came when poki.com presents also a story line as well as tutorial for each game.

There’s a lot for me to explore even from this small start, but I am sure that there’s plenty more to experience in a fun way even from the cooking games genre. So, what’s yours then? If we are thinking the same, then you surely should start with the challenging Papa Pastaria or perhaps with Sara and Emma editions with their businesses? Give it a try!

 

Halal

Halal ham is broadening horizons (via DW.com)

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Tasting authentic Spanish ham is often a key part of any tourist’s visit to Spain. But it’s a treat observant Muslims – who don’t eat pork – have been unable to enjoy. Now, though, that’s about to change.

A picture of Faysal Mrad Dali with his cured products

Deep in the mountains of southwest Spain, a is underway. Music from traditional Spanish guitars fills the air in the town of Cumbres Mayores, in the heart of Spain’s most authentic ham-producing region. Fat black pigs roam free, eating acorns scattered all around the area.

“Curing ham goes back to the 17th century here. We worship the patron saint of pig slaughterers, San Antón,” explains Jesus Sanchez Vazquez, the councilman in charge of cultural affairs. The town, which is 700 meters (2296.5) above sea level, boasts the qualities needed to perfectly dry and cure the ham, known as “jamon iberico de bellota.”

“It melts in your mouth, it’s so smooth. It tastes and smells like the countryside here,” he says proudly.

Ham for Muslims?

But that’s a taste that Muslims, like local resident Faysal Mrad Dali, will never be able to experience.

A picture of so called Halal Ham curing.
Meat is cured for the traditional six months

“The first time I came with my family to Spain, to Andalusia, I said, ‘Why don’t the Muslims have this?'”

So he set out to create it. Dali moved from Belgium to Cumbres Mayores a few years ago, and started making Spain’s first halal ham – which is actually lamb and sometimes beef.

The animals are slaughtered according to Muslim tradition, and the meat is cured in the most traditional Spanish method, for a minimum of six months, just like pork. Dali uses fresh local spices, including thyme, paprika and oregano.

Cross-cultural history

At his factory, Dali proudly shows off the racks of cured lamb legs, lamb pate and beef sausages. He slices some to taste. It looks and tastes exactly like pork, which is his goal, but also a potential problem. Some Muslims might refuse to believe this isn’t pork, so all of Dali’s products have a huge halal certification sticker on the packaging.

A picture and selection of Halal ham curing the factory.
In a taste test, many people think that ‘Halal ham’ tastes similar to pork

He sells his products online in Spain and across Europe, including at restaurants near Granada’s Alhambra, the palace of Muslim kings who ruled Spain in the Middle Ages.

“Spain has a very strong Islamic history,” explains Bilal Domah, the director of the annual Halal Tourism Conference, held last year in Spain. “Over the last few years, there has been a big growth in Muslim tourists. And when it comes to tourism, food has a real role to play in promoting that tourism.”

Pushing the boundaries

Domah says halal tourism is a nearly $200-billion market (184.6 billion euros), and it’s pushing the boundaries of traditional Muslim products around the world.

“For example, at the conference there was a company showcasing halal champagne. And that actually took off quite well! A lot of people were trying it, tasting it, apparently it tastes very similar to the real thing.”

Spanish ham being sliced.
Spain is famous for its food

A crazy idea?

Halal products like Dali’s lamb “ham” are one way Spain is accommodating an influx of Muslim tourists, many of them Gulf Arabs with money to spend in Spain’s crisis-hit economy. But Dali says at first, he got some strange looks in this traditional, rural corner of Spain.

“I came here and I found I am the only Muslim in the village. People say, ‘es un poco loco’, he’s a bit crazy!”

But he didn’t take heed about what people might think, and set out to pursue his goal.

“This has been a dream for me, as a Muslim. I’m living and making my product in a region where have a history of living and eating together for centuries.”

And they can carry on doing so, it seems, with the help of halal ham and also kosher ham, another new product on the market made from duck or goose. Both products are helping traditional Spanish ways of cooking reach an ever wider market.

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Taken from DW.com