Tempe Proposed as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage

TheIndonesia.id - The Association of Indonesian Nutritionists (Persagi) supports tempe to become a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage because of its long history of this folk food. Tempe also appears in Indonesian historical records.

“In Serat Sri Tanjung from the 12th century, it is written that soybeans are the basic ingredient for making tempe. In addition, Serat Centhini, which was written by R Ng Ronggo Sutrasno during the reign of Sultan Pakubuwono in 1814, described the shallot ginger coconut milk tempe and tamarind 'lethokan' sambal," said the Chairman of the DPP Persagi, Rudatin, in a written statement in Jakarta, Thursday, March 31, 2022.

He explained that the shallot ginger coconut milk dish was served by Prince Bayat who entertained Cebolang when he stopped by the Tembayat hamlet in the Klaten area, on the way from Prambahan Temple to Pajang.

According to historian Dr Onghokham, the Javanese people in the era of forced cultivation (1830-1870) consumed tempe which they accidentally found. In the Encyclopaedia von Nedelandsch Indie (1922) it was stated that tempe is a cake made from soybeans through a fermentation process and is a popular food.

"Looking at the long history of tempe, it is no wonder that Indonesia is the largest tempe producer in the world and the largest soybean market in Asia," he said.

Therefore, he invites the public to preserve Indonesian culture in the form of eating tempe. The reason is that tempe is an original food from Indonesia. Tempe is made from soybeans which are processed through fermentation using microorganisms so that the vegetable protein becomes easier to digest.

Tempe also has various benefits such as meeting the needs of vitamin B12, preventing cancer, anemia, diabetes mellitus, and asthma, inhibiting the aging process, preventing various digestive tract diseases; maintaining heart health, treating diarrhea, preventing osteoporosis, and boosting the immune system.

He added that there are various types of tempe based on beans that are being used. There are soybean tempe, bongkrek tempe, gembus tempe, koro tempe, green bean tempe, red bean tempe, jes tempe, and lamtoro tempe. The community also makes various traditional food using tempe.

"Based on the specialty of the food product, Persagi supports tempe as a UNESCO intangible heritage," he said.