![]() ![]() Meanwhile, American chef Will Goldfarb of Netflix's Chef's Table fame is showing at his Ubud restaurant Room4Dessert how jamu can also be a dessert. "As the jamu consists of turmeric, ginger and pandan leaf, it adds a spicy touch to the cocktails, as well as a nice earthy note and a bitterness as well," said Nuraga. At hip Bali beach club Potato Head's Indonesian restaurant Kaum, head bartender Bina Nuraga gives international guests a taste of Indonesia by blending turmeric jamu with pandan-infused rum. Kalani isn't the only person to tweak jamu for a new audience, as it has also entered the local cocktail scene. "At that time, jamu was extremely bitter, so I've made them to suit more of a modern palate," she said. Kalani admits that she has only taken inspiration from her great-grandmother's recipes, altering them for today's tastes by making them sweeter. It's a beautiful legacy that she left us – her knowledge, her love for herbs and her passion to help people get better." "I felt compelled to continue what she started," said Kalani. Some of her great-grandmother's former employees, who are now octogenarians, have joined her as consultants. When the factory that sold jamu powder closed five years ago, Kalani decided to follow in her great-grandmother's footsteps by launching the Jamu Bar brand online. "The first thing I remember was the aroma – it activated all my senses, from one room where women would be cutting eucalyptus on the floor to another room where they would be sorting herbs and spices," she said. Kalani's first memory of jamu was visiting her great-grandmother's factory, Nyonya Meneer, which was founded in 1919. It's the same as when you say it's mom's chicken noodle soup: why is that any better than getting a takeaway? It's the person that made it for you," she said. "Positive intentions are integral to jamu as recipes have been handed down from healers to communities and parents to children. The positive intentions are as important as the ingredients, agrees Murdaya. "It is an indigenous medicine." Similarly, Malaysians have ramuan or ramu, a tradition of herbal food, medicine and beauty that incorporates the healing traditions of the indigenous orang asli people. "I believe that jamu goes back to a time when people lived in nature and took whatever they needed to heal from the forest, whether that was certain leaf or a flower," she said. While the first recipes were found in records in the royal courts, fourth-generation jamu maker Vanessa Kalani said that jamu could predate them. Pestles and mortars, the tools of jamu making, have also been found in archaeological digs and date from the time of the Mataram Kingdom. "Archaeological research on 9th-Century temples in Central Java show that jamu and herbal medicinal recipes were already administered to preserve health," he said. From there, the recipes were passed down by word of mouth through families.Īccording to anthropologist Patrick Vanhoebrouck, who has lived in Java for more than 20 years, references to the herbal tincture can be found in the bas-reliefs of Borobudur temple in Java. It was first drunk in the royal court, then was introduced to villages by healers. The drink has a rich and ancient history, originating during the times of the Mataram Kingdom (8th to 10th Centuries) more than 1,300 years ago. ![]() "At its most basic, jamu is a herbal medicine at its fullest, it is a reflection of how a culture maintains wellbeing over thousands of generations," said Metta Murdaya, author of Jamu Lifestyle: Indonesian Herbal Wellness Tradition. Jamu is such an integral part of Indonesian culture that the country has nominated it for the Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage List. For in Indonesians' eyes, the bitter-tasting drink is not solely designed to quench your thirst, but jamu means a "prayer for health" in old Javanese. They take care not to spill a drop as they pour the precious drink into a cup. Some carry as many as eight bottles, each containing a bespoke jamu designed to give the customer a boost at any stage of life, from childhood to old age. As the sun starts to rise, the jamu gendong (jamu sellers) make their way along their daily route by foot or by scooter, stopping only to serve one of their botanical infusions to a thirsty customer. Their hands are stained yellow from the turmeric that they have freshly ground to a pulp that morning with a pestle and mortar, along with other rhizomes, roots, fruits, bark and leaves to add to their tinctures. In the streets of Central Java, women carefully load their bamboo baskets with bottles of jamu, a homemade elixir. ![]()
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