Gudeg Will Take You Back to Yogyakarta…

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

Culinary fans buy gudeg at the Gudeg Pawon stall, Umbulharjo District, Yogyakarta, Monday (8/5/2023) evening.

Visiting Yogyakarta would not be complete without savoring gudeg (a local specialty made from seasoned young jackfruit). Gudeg seems to be everlasting, with its well-preserved flavor all the time. The scrumptiousness of this ancestral culinary heritage makes everybody long to return to Yogyakarta.

Around 10 people lined up at an old kitchen in Yogyakarta city, Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY), on Friday evening (5/5/2023). They looked very hungry. They eyed a long table in the corner of a room. There was a bowl containing gudeg, krecek (fried cow hide), eggs and cut chicken. The steam that billowed from the bowl indicated that the food had just been cooked.

Rangga Meiko, 25, a resident of Sleman regency, DIY, queued up. He picked a chicken head and egg to match the gudeg that became the chosen dish of his dinner this time. Thereafter, he walked to a table in the house yard of the kitchen owner.

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Right away, Rangga relished a plateful of rice and the gudeg heartily. So did his father, mother and older brother. “This Gudeg Pawon offers an authentic taste, even with a unique experience as we take gudeg directly from the kitchen,” said Rangga.

Gudeg Pawon is the name of the gudeg stall visited by Rangga and family. The stall, located in Warungboto subdistrict, Umbulharjo district, Yogyakarta, opens from 5.30 p.m. and usually the food available is totally consumed three hours later. As its name suggests, customers indeed have to take gudeg directly from the pawon or kitchen.

It obviously satisfies my longing.

In his daily activities, Rangga works in the import and export sector in Medan, North Sumatra. As a lover of gudegbasah (with sauce), he has difficulty in finding the gudeg that suits his taste in his place of work. Rangga does not want to lose the opportunity to savor gudeg with his family every time he returns to Yogyakarta. Eating gudeg together has become a kind of ritual for them.

“It obviously satisfies my longing. So when I’m back home, I should always take the time. It’s a great pity if after traveling a long way home I skip eating such an authentic gudeg here,” added Rangga.

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

A trader serves gudeg buyers at a Gudeg Pawon stall, Umbulharjo District, Yogyakarta, Monday (8/5/2023).

Long journey

Its authentic taste may have been the effect of the long journey of Gudeg Pawon, pioneered by Rubiyem since 1958. Initially, the woman sold gudeg in different places. She had once also opened her stall at Sentul Market, Yogyakarta. At the time, her gudeg stall was known as Gudeg Sor Asem because she sold gudeg under an asam or asem (tamarind) tree.

In the mid-2000s, Rubiyem began selling gudeg from her house. The kitchen was chosen to offer the gudeg she prepared. From then on, people have called her gudeg stall Gudeg Pawon.

“So, this name [Gudeg Pawon] has come from the customers themselves. Neither the family nor mother [Rubiyem] gave the name,” said Sumarwanto, 62, Rubiyem’s son, who is now running the business.

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Sumarwanto started learning to cook gudeg in 1993. His mother helped by tasting the food he prepared to maintain the typical flavor of gudeg she concocted. Only four years later Sumarwanto was allowed by his mother to cook on his own. Now he is teaching his children to cook to ensure the continuity of Gudeg Pawon.

The other no less legendary gudeg stall is Gudeg Mbah Lindu in the Malioboro zone. The initiator was Mbah Lindu, who sold gudeg in the 1930s. She passed away in 2020. Now, the stall that belongs to the “morning gudeg sect” is handled by one of her children, Ratiyah, 57.

Quality should always be maintained.

Ratiyah strives to preserve the same flavor as that concocted by her mother. The consistency of taste is believed to be capable of making customers keep loving her gudeg. Ratiyah also continues to cook by using firewood as her mother did. This method of preparing the food makes the spices of gudeg better absorbed.

“Quality should always be maintained. Seasonings must never be reduced. Their amounts must be precise. Actually, I was learning by direct observation. But the customers say it has retained the same flavor since the time of simbah [Mbah Lindu],” said Ratiyah.

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

Culinary fans buy gudeg at the Gudeg Pawon stall, Umbulharjo District, Yogyakarta, Monday (8/5/2023).

Ratiyah described her consumers as comprising various circles from public figures to out-of-town tourists. Not infrequently, people who visit for the first time promptly love the taste of her gudeg so much that they routinely return.

“There’s a child consumer from East Java. He only wants to eat here. So, he is quite familiar to me. He can come here for several days in a row,” said Ratiyah.

Predawn hours

Gudeg Bu Slamet in Wijilan village, Yogyakarta, also has fanatic customers. This stall’s gudeg has a typical characteristic as its taste tends to be piquant, not as sweet as most other gudeg. The sambal goreng krecek (krecek with spiced sauce) of Gudeg Bu Slamet has a prominently hot taste.

Subariyah, 67, who manages Gudeg Bu Slamet, said some of her customers come very early in the morning when the stall is not yet open. That is why although Gudeg Bu Slamet opens at 5 a.m., Subariyah sometimes has to be ready at the stall at 3 a.m.

“Some customers occasionally wait in front of the stall at 4.30 a.m. In fact, I’m just making preparations,” she said. Those coming at predawn hours usually want to buy gudeg as gifts or for their journeys.

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Andri, 52, a customer from Surabaya, said his first visit to Gudeg Bu Slamet was on the recommendation of his relatives in Yogyakarta. But later he went there of his own accord during holidays and became a frequent customer. “It has big chicken pieces and they taste good,” he said.

Gudeg has become one of Yogyakarta’s icons. Several years ago, gudeg was declared an intangible cultural heritage by the government. Now, enjoying the romanticism of Yogyakarta seems incomplete without relishing a plate of gudeg.

This article was translated by Aris Prawira.