Rendang, the star of West Sumatra’s renowned Padang-style cuisine, is being featured at the world’s biggest tourism expo.

Indonesian culinary expert William Wongso brought the long-simmering beef curry and other dishes including  smoked meat from  East Nusa Tenggara to the Internationale Tourismus Borse (ITB) expo in Berlin, Germany.

“It will help make Indonesian food famous and prevent Indonesian food from  being claimed by other countries,” he told Metro TV.

William wants to make rendang Indonesia’s signature dish overseas. Since January he has promoted it from the Netherlands to Australia. Every Indonesian ambassador, he said, should have a standardized recipe for it and popularize it in his or her host country.

He said many food fans at the expo wanted to learn how to cook rendang.

Culinary expert Bondan Winarno defined rendang as beef curry simmered until the meat has soaked up all the sauce and become caramelized.

“The word caramelized must be stressed. Unless it is caramelized  it cannot be called rendang. Half-cooked rendang is called kalio,” he told the Jakarta Globe.

“My favorite beef rendang is from Bukittinggi, with small potatoes added in the last hour of cooking,” he added.

Source: The Jakarta Globe – 15 March 2010
Photo: The Jakarta Globe