Enjoying Indonesian Legendary Culinary in One Place.

"Bango Food Festival" is coming... interested to join the crowd?

Frankly, at the beginning I was not interested at all. When my husband asked me to visit the festival a few days before the event, I refused and told him about my unpleasant experience visiting this festival a couple years ago.
Read my story "Mouses were Hungry in the Rice Granary" here.

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And... a day after our conversation, I received an invitation email from Alchemy Creative Communication to visit the festival, and.....it came together with free vouchers. That's the beauty of being a food blogger :)
Ahaaa... I asked my 'troops', if they wanted to come. Fortunately, the answer was a big yes and I became excited to check the hawkers list for the event.

Last week, four of us visited the festival.
We left home about 8.15am, hoping to arrive at 9am when the festival just open.

The huge gate was welcoming us, and we passed the product knowledge corridor before we arrived in front of semi open outdoor food court. The food sellers had already started to cook and to sell their delicious commodities while the crowd was not hectic yet.
Perfect time.
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Some of you, who is curious about what 'Bango' is, ...let me tell a little thing that I know.
Bango or Bangau actually means stork (you can see from the brand logo); a sweet soy sauce local brand from Indonesia. This kind of sauce is one of the most important ingredients in our daily culinary.
Every year, 'Bango' runs food festival events in several cities in Indonesia, called 'Festival Jajanan Bango' or 'Bango Hawkers Festival'. During the festival, tens of food hawkers gather in one place to sell their special traditional food/drink.

This year, with carrying theme 'Indonesia Culinary Heritage', the festival was held in 5 cities (Bandung, Surabaya, Malang, Semarang) and the closing festival was in Jakarta on last Saturday (13.04.2013).

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Like the previous festivals in other cities, in Jakarta 10 Indonesian culinary legends from different regions in Indonesia presented their delicious legendary dishes, and together with tens other local hawkers enlivened the event.

So... here they are!
I intended to photograph all of them, unfortunately it was hard to do so, around the crowd and while looking after our children. There are four pictures I steal from my husband's shoots.
Hopefully you can enjoy and feel the ambiance of the festival.
I know, a picture is worth of 1000 words... so there are thousands of words can tell you about those food, right.

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For me, there are many advantages visiting this kind of food festival.
We are introduced to big range of the richness local culinary in one time, in one place. Many new things to learn, new taste, new flavors, new cooking methods, new food names. Very interesting.
The hawkers cooking attractions really entertained us. They did not only cook in small portions, but in huge portions in huge pans that need extra power, extra tools, concentration and experience.
Clean... food, place, festival environment were relatively clean. Do not need to worry about it.

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This time, I have to say that I'm so grateful that we can manage to visit this food festival and enjoying the event. I know it's very crowded, but with little plan and effort, we could enjoy it.

I give a five stars to 'Nasi Goreng Kambing' (Mutton Fried Rice) Kebon Sirih. Their dish is extraordinary, super delicious. For sure, I'll visit their location.

For you who haven't visited this festival ever... I'd suggest you to visit it. It's only once a year event. It's a big opportunity to know, to learn, to taste the richness of our local culinary.
Bring along your children, let them be introduced with our authentic traditional delicious culinary.

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Little tips to visit a food festival, especially if you bring your children :
- Find out the opening time, know where the location is and arrive on time. Don't be late.
You will get advantages for being a little more diligent. Not spending too much time for queuing and waiting which is so boring for the children.
- Find out the food list that available during the festival. It'll be easier to decide what kind of food you want try and less disappointing because you do not try some interesting new food.
- Wear comfortable attire, because during the hot weather, walking around the crowd, you'll be sweating a lot.
- You don't need to buy all the food if you just need to take picture of them; just ask nicely for some customers and shoot it quickly. That's what I did.
Last one... enjoy the festival, learn a lot of new things, refresh your taste bud.

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Special thank you for Alchemy Creative Communication for the invitation and the merchandise (and also the vouchers). All the best for 'Bango', I hope to join the festival again next year.
... See u!

Have a great weekend, Friends.

Comments

Roossy Tirta said…
Great posting Mbak Vania. I really hope I get a chance to visit this kind of food festival when I go home to Indonesia. Thanks for sharing delicious food photos.
bunga rosvita said…
watta great culinary journey! coming to this place feels like traveling around indonesia ya? hehe
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Melani Suwandi said…
Thanks for sharing, rencananya memang pengen banget kesana, apalagi ada sate klataknya mak adi (tempat kuliner favorit di yogya) tapi sayang karena gak bisa madol kerja jadi batal kesana deh
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Unknown said…
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Visiting the non-touristy places is the best way to know a country. That is what travelling is all about for me. Now I know where to go in Indonesia next time. :)
great
i like that :)
Unknown said…
Really your blog is very effective by having the posts regarding the travel places around the world. This seems to be good and great. Thanks for sharing with us.
City Travel
Uptourist said…
Oooh It must be a food adventure. So many food to try and savor.