“The research was carried out with a search period of two years ago, July 2011 to be precise,” said researcher from PR, Adi Ahdiat as quoted from Between, Friday (23/8/2013).
These three types of food are compared to “tom yam” (Thailand), “bulgogi” and “bibimbap” (South Korea).
The result, he continued, was that fried rice was the most discussed on social networks with 2.3 million conversations outside Indonesia, followed by rendang with 1.1 million conversations, and satay with 533 thousand conversations.
Meanwhile, for tom yam, outside Thailand it received 254 thousand conversations, bulgogi and bibimbap outside Korea respectively received 210 thousand and 162 thousand conversations.
Meanwhile, if Indonesia were included in the monitoring, the total satay conversations on Twitter would reach 8.6 million; fried rice 5.4 million and rendang 2.5 million talks.
Far surpassing, for example, “lasagna”, an international dish from Italy, whose conversations reached 3.8 million, but close to “spaghetti” which reached 9 million.
In fact, the second most talked about bibimbap and bulgogi outside Korea is in Indonesia (bulgogi 40 thousand, bibimbap 26 thousand).
All of them were included in the list of the world’s 50 most delicious foods according to a CNN poll in 2011. On that list, rendang and fried rice were ranked first and second respectively.
He added that this reverses the opinion that the cuisine of other Asian countries is more attractive to foreign people. “However, as a country that does not have as many food outlets as Chinese and Japanese cuisine, Indonesian cuisine is in a superior position,” he said.
However, he regrets that many people in the world enjoy Indonesian food in Chinese restaurants or public restaurants that serve Asian dishes.
“Indonesian food outlets are relatively rare overseas. So it is commonplace that foreigners tend to think that fried rice, satay or rendang come from Thailand, Singapore or even Malaysia,” he said.
He believes it would be more productive to encourage the establishment and development of Indonesian food outlets in various countries rather than making a fuss or worrying about our food being claimed by neighboring countries.
It was emphasized that this fact shows that Indonesia is a market for culinary commodities with great potential. “Expansion is something that should be done to further advance the Indonesian culinary industry,” he said.
For example, the Thai government has long encouraged the internationalization of its culinary delights with the “Thailand, the World’s Kitchen” campaign. “The Thai government provides training centers, information and loan funds for those who want to open Thai food outlets in other countries,” he said.
He believes that there is a lot of strategic value from this culinary expansion. “Strengthening national pride, inviting tourists to our country, opening the food export market, bringing in foreign exchange, encouraging economic growth,” said Adi Ahdiat.
(Abd)
