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Indonesia Orders Origin of ‘Mie Bakso’ Investigated
March 08, 2010

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Roland
11:09am Mar 10, 2010

Bakso has definitely European roots, mainly Dutch, probably it came as a variation of bitterballen or any similar Dutch food. So don't waste (taxpayers) money and resources to "scientifically" come to the same conclusion!

This hype about President Obama's visit is already too much.

This CEO from Borobudur who "urged" the U.S. President to wear proper attire (hahaha...is not visiting anyhow!) to his school which he attened for one year to his favourite food bakso and of course the usual "infidel" anti U.S. demonstrations stirred up by groups as the FPI, HTI and so on and on!

j..carolin
4:53am Mar 10, 2010

Goodness. Why's this even matter?


billjayman
9:46pm Mar 9, 2010

I can't wait for it to rain and for him to go back to america with "Masuk Angin". Try explaining that to the western world :-)

Simon P
5:41pm Mar 9, 2010

Yes exactly Chris. Bakso is one cultural artefact I wouldn't be so quick to own up to. It's by far the worst food in the country.

ChrisH
5:09pm Mar 9, 2010

Ketoprak, of course! On the streets! Now THAT would be "going back to his Good Ol' days", and would get him some more support amongst the locals here.

Although the local Ketoprak guy here says the Dutch came up with the idea for the mix.

I will never eat Bakso.

Cow ears, eyes and noses. There's a reason why it's cheaper than a steak, or regular Daging Giling, you know!

If Obama wants good, traditional, and not hazardous-to-the-health Indonesian food, and not get sick, like EVERY Westerner has in their first few months after they got here, he'd best go to more upscale restaurants, like Payon or something (Spam? Anyone?). At least he will not get sick.

I mean, we do want to leave a good impression, right?

Indonesian food, and its kitchen, are amongst the most underrated, but best, in the world!

US President Barack Obama says he wants to taste traditional Indonesian food again when he visits the country later this month. The question is, which dish on his list of requests truly has local origins?

One food that has come to the government’s attention is mie bakso , or meatball noodle soup. Wanting to avoid a cultural trademark spat with other countries, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism called on mie bakso experts to trace the origins of the dish.

“We had a fight before with Malaysia on cultural products, with each side claiming to own them. We don’t want the same thing to happen again this time,” Firmansyah Rahim, director general of destination development at the ministry, told the Jakarta Globe on Monday.

The Indonesian Association of Mie Bakso Sellers (Apmiso) said recently that its members were ready to concoct for Obama a mie bakso recipe that met international standards.

“We’ve worked with at least 10 different industries that will prepare ingredients that are hygienic, high quality, safe and tasty,” Apmiso chairman Tri Setyo Budiman said.

Firmanysah said he wanted Apmiso to look for proof that mie bakso was truly Indonesia.

“If it is truly Indonesian, then we should have all the ingredients produced locally,” he said. The wheat used for the noodles, Firmansyah said, was imported and “we can find meatballs and their variation all over the world.”

Another government official, Damos Agusman, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said it was safe to label mie baksoas “typically Indonesian.”

Ulma Haryanto & Antara