SuaraJawaTtengah.id – The Indonesian Chef Association (ICA) praised the fried rice cooking program initiated by the Mayor of Semarang, Hevearita Gunaryanti Rahayu.
The idea of the woman who is familiarly called Mbak Ita, is considered to be in line with the ideals of the Indonesian Chefs Association in campaigning for typical Indonesian food.
Chairman of the Indonesian Chef Association (ICA) Central Java, Hendro Purwanto, said that apart from being a favorite domestic food, fried rice is also known worldwide.
“What Mrs. Ita initiated is good. Fried rice has been recognized worldwide, we support and really encourage it because Ms. Ita is taking part in preserving local food,” said Chef Hendro on the sidelines of the Food, Beverage and Chef Festival at the PRPP Convention Center, Semarang City, Friday (24/11/2023).
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Apart from being considered to preserve local food, the party said that what Mbak Ita was doing was also an effort to reduce stunting rates.
According to him, this is in line with the efforts of the central government. Moreover, Mbak Ita has an interesting idea in translating this national priority program.
“It is indeed a favorite food, the right choice. It can reduce stunting if fried rice is combined with vegetables and other ingredients. In terms of nutritional value, there are various ingredients, for example seafood or meat,” he said.
Even though fried rice has been recognized worldwide along with rendang and satay, he said, there is nothing wrong with promoting it to a smaller scope such as in the city of Semarang. That, he said, is what is called preserving local wisdom.
“Incidentally, in western countries, the staple food is not rice or rice. However, with the existence of typical Indonesian food which is starting to become known to the world, maybe in the future Indonesian and foreign hotels will also popularize fried rice,” he said.
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“This started to be raised with Mrs. Ita’s program regarding fried rice, because in Indonesia, apart from fried rice, there are also rendang and satay. This is our joint task to promote it,” said Chef Hendro, again.
He hopes that Semarang City under the leadership of Mbak Ita can consistently introduce Indonesian specialties to the next generation. According to him, the current generation is more proud of food from abroad than Indonesia.
“Perhaps apart from fried rice, the thing that can be picked up is mangut, because yesterday in the international level competition, we got third place,” he said.
Food, Beverage and Chef Festival is an annual event which hosts the most complete food and drink exhibition. This activity was held at PRPP Semarang City on 24-26 November 2023.
This exhibition was held to support the progress of the food and beverage industry in Semarang City, Central Java and Indonesia in general. Including being a meeting place between business actors and entrepreneurs operating in the food and beverage sector.
As is known, the Mayor of Semarang, Hevearita Gunaryanti Rahayu or who is called Mbak Ita some time ago initiated a cooking program and fried rice competition.
There are many philosophies in this idea, namely, utilizing urban agriculture, appreciating fried rice which is famous abroad, and encouraging mothers to return to cooking in the kitchen along with the ease of ordering food via online applications.
Including through fried rice competitions, apart from being an effort to reduce stunting rates, it can also increase harmony and cohesiveness between residents. However, the program was met with controversy from netizens on social media, especially in the city of Semarang. Because the program is considered less populist.
