Rijsttafel

What it is

A rijsttafel can have from ten to forty dishes. They arrive together and are kept warm on small burners along the table. The point is contrast: mild against hot, dry against saucy, sweet soy against sour tamarind, soft against crisp. Rice sits at the centre of each plate and small amounts of each dish are placed around it. Typical items are beef rendang, chicken or pork satay with peanut sauce, vegetables in coconut milk, egg in chilli sauce, fried banana and prawn crackers.

Where it comes from

Dutch planters and officials in the East Indies built the rice table in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It borrowed from Indonesian feast customs, including the Minangkabau way of covering a table with many dishes, and turned them into a display of abundance, with a line of servants each carrying one dish. After Indonesian independence, returning colonial families and Indo-Dutch migrants brought the meal to the Netherlands, where Indonesian restaurants made it a national favourite.

How it works

You order the rijsttafel for the whole table, usually for a minimum of two people, at a fixed price per head. Restaurants offer a smaller and a larger version and often a vegetarian one. The staff set everything down and explain which dishes are mild and which are hot. You take rice first, then a spoonful of several dishes at a time, and go back for more. In Indonesia itself the format survives mainly in a few historic hotels and restaurants.

How to do it

1. Order one rijsttafel for the table. It is priced per person.
2. Put rice in the middle of your plate.
3. Add small spoonfuls of three or four dishes around the rice.
4. Taste the sambals carefully before adding more.
5. Go back for the dishes you have not tried.

Good manners

• Keep the dishes separate on your plate. Do not stir everything together.
• Use the serving spoon in each dish, not your own.
• Remember the colonial history. Many Indonesians see the format as Dutch, not theirs.

What is eaten

RendangMeat simmered with coconut and spices until coated in a rich, dry sauceSatayGrilled skewers of seasoned meat or seafood, often served with peanut sauceGado-gadoVegetables, tofu and rice cake in a rich Indonesian peanut sauceSambalA spicy Southeast Asian paste or sauce made mainly from ground chilliesNasi gorengSoutheast Asian fried rice seasoned with sweet soy sauce and spicesPerkedelIndonesian-Javanese fritters made from mashed potato or other vegetablesSayur lodehJavanese vegetable soup simmered in coconut milk

Also part of it, and being written: Krupuk, Semur.

Sources and further reading

• Rijsttafel on Wikipedia
• Dutch Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage
• Holland.com: official tourism site of the Netherlands