Reviving the popularity of ‘jenang’

People with deep roots in Javanese culture treasure jenang as a ritual in support of family welfare. It is woven into the stages of life of Javanese people, even from the moment of conception, to little milestones in children’s lives and to the time they get married.

“For the Javanese community, jenang is a symbol of prayer and hope and a bringer of spiritual fervor,” said Slamet Raharjo, a patron of the Indonesian Jenang Foundation.

Despite having an important role in various life celebrations for Javanese people, the value of jenang is declining in the midst of modern life. It is getting hard to find jenang sellers and the dish is increasingly associated merely with kids’ snacks or comfort food for sick people.

“Its cultural, spiritual and traditional value should thus be reintroduced,” Slamet, the owner of Omah Sinten Hotel Heritage in Surakarta, said.

For this reason, Surakarta organized the Jenang Festival in mid-February, the fifth since 2012. Held to mark the anniversary of the city, the festival highlighted jenang’s philosophical value of slametan, or thanksgiving.

During the festival, around 20,000 packs of jenangwere distributed to festival visitors in Ngarsopuro. Unlike in previous years, this year’s festival proudly displayed 36 varieties of jenang from 15 cities.

“We also have different kinds of jenang, including that from Papua, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Sundanese jenang [West Java] and even from Timor Leste,” festival organizer Heru Prasetyo said.

Some types of jenang are still used in traditional ceremonies in Java.

Ronggojati Sugiyatno, an observer of Javanese culture from Surakarta, said one such type was jenang abang putih (red and white jenang), which symbolizes the conception of man. The female seed is represented by red and the male seed by white.

“The red-white variant is always present in traditional rituals, often called jenang keselamatan, bringing security,” he said.

The one-time spiritual advisor to the late king of Surakarta Paku Buwono XII mentioned another type not to be ignored: four-color jenang of red, white, yellow and green. This jenang symbolizes man’s states of desire, in which red means greed, white is a calm mind, yellow an unstable soul and green a materialistic urge.

 

“There’s also jenang sumsum, white porridge served as part of a thanksgiving ceremony. It’s believed to be capable of restoring physical vigor after getting tired,” he said.

 

Sri Lestari, 65, who has been engaged in the jenang business for decades, attributes modern people’s unfamiliarity with jenang’s philosophy to the fact that it is not a snack for daily consumption like noodles and cakes.

 

“In traditional markets not many people sell jenang, but it can still be easily found,” said Lestari.

 

In her business, Lestari focuses on catering for traditional events like wedding parties, mitoni (seven-months of pregnancy) thanksgiving rituals, birth ceremonies and other Javanese celebrations.

 

Surakarta historian Heri Priyatmoko said jenang still exists today because the community still believes in its philosophical values.

 

Its presence in Javanese rituals, according to Heri, contributes to its survival. Jenang is even found inSerat Centhini and Serat Bauwarno of the 19th century, classical texts of Javanese culture. The types used for rituals are documented in Javanese literature expert Padmosusastro’s book of protocol from the early 20th century.

 

Although jenang remains a part of traditional ceremonies, Heri agrees that it is losing its function as a daily snack. “It’s obviously been bumped by pizza, cakes or ice cream as a consequence of modernity,” he said.

The festival is expected to boost jenang’s popularity and become a way of documenting and preserving the dish.

 “I wish such local and unique cooking as jenang could enter star-rated hotels and become a typical menu favorite served in its original form with banana leaves. Hotel owners will hopefully respond to this traditional culinary delight,” Surakarta Mayor FX Hadi Rudyatmo said.

Jenang comes in various flavors with its predominantly sweet and piquant tastes. Its diverse flavors are formed by the complementary ingredients used in its preparation like coconut milk, liquid palm sugar, bananas, sweet potatoes and corn.

“Formerly, jenang was served in pincuk [folded banana leaves] and eaten using suru [banana-leaf spoons]. This way of eating is now very rarely practiced,” said Amborowati, 45, a visitor to the festival.

The private-bank employee said that as a child she had eaten jenang for breakfast, which despite eating small portions, she claimed filled her up due to its high carbohydrate, sugar and protein content.

“Now I can no longer have it because jenang isn’t sold in many places. My children prefer bread and milk, which may be more practical,” added the mother of two.