FFoodforAll: oodforAll: Sharing the flavours of Kemplang and Klemet

Around last month, on 30th of March 2023, in the small mountainous village of Selosari, Juwono; my friends and I gathered in Pak Yono’s house, a resident there. We came together to do ‘Home Industry’ wherein we made traditional Indonesian snacks. We had planned to make kemplang and klemet, two common snacks eaten there. Kemplang is a fried snack made of grated cassava and thinly chopped leeks. Klemet is a traditional Indonesian snack made of grated cassava, coconut, and brown sugar wrapped in banana leaves. While we waited for everyone to arrive, we had been preparing the ingredients to make these snacks before we started this activity such as, cassava, coconut, brown sugar, and more.

My friends and I first peeled cassavas and coconuts before thoroughly washing them. And of course, we had washed our hands before we started this activity. After that, we grated the cassava and coconuts. I had nicked my fingers a few times because I was inept at grating the coconuts. When my teacher arrived at the house, we had already finished grating the cassava and coconuts. We had been preparing the ingredients for the dough when it started raining. During this time we had gone inside the house before the rain further poured. We had no choice but to go inside the house as we couldn’t risk the dough getting wet. Inside the house, we started forming the dough mixture so that we could make the klemet. We started by wrapping the dough mixture in banana leaves then bringing it to the kitchen to steam it. Next, we shaped the dough of the kemplang. My friends and I had shaped the dough before I brought it to the kitchen to fry. We had finished cooking the kemplang before we finished the klemet as it needed more time to steam. When everything was done, We tried it. Even though we had been waiting for a long time, it was worth the wait as the snacks were very enjoyable.

Even though the snacks, kemplang and klemet, were common there, everyone still accepted our offering and thanked us. I felt like the community was very thankful for our gesture as they accepted with appreciation and open arms. This day will definitely stay with me as a day to remember for all its laughs, fun, and of course, having gotten to see the smiles on people’s faces as we shared the snacks. I will definitely do more good deeds like this. (AAAP)

There was still so much food left however and we didn’t want it to go to waste. We had been planning to share with our neighbours and the rest of the community before we started. Had we been wiser we would have made less snacks so as not to waste anything. Instead of brooding on it however, my friends and I decided to share with our neighbours. Coincidentally, it was almost time for iftar so I thought we could do a good gesture by sharing the snacks we had. We had been packing the kemplang and klemet before we left to share it with the neighbours. We went around the neighbourhood and were greeted with smiles and kind words. From one house to another, knocking one door then the other, getting greeted with warm welcomes, and sincere ‘thank you’s’. Alongside visiting houses, we also visited a mosque to share our snacks.

People are bound new things in their life how that is. Right befo went, I knew that Livegreat new experience shelf of lovely memorie went through it, star until 31st of March, I joyous time. I had simple yet memorable little moments with new people of the village surrounding me. Kwayuhan hamlet, which is located on the upper side of Wates Village where I lived when I was there, was a very lovely village. I was mesmerized by the closeness and interaction of people that lived there together. My partner and I were greeted with much warmth by our foster parents. With other classmates that lived in the same hamlet as I, we played, mostly fed doves with rice, and talked together with our foster families a lot.

Before the Live-In was held, each of our groups had been told to make an activity to do with people at the village. Many groups made plenty of exciting activities, but we could only do one at each hamlet. The problem was, my partner and I hadn't prepared any materials while everybody told us that we had to do it right at that moment.

The night of the second day was spent for me to help other partners do their programme they had been preparing. Their program was to teach the kids of the village. I helped them with the math exercises and English. We did it at the head of the neighbourhood’s house. We had a lot of fun teaching all the bright kids there, most of them could answer the questions right. Complications of subtraction and multiplication couldn’t tackle them. In English, we learned about the colors of the rainbow. They could pronounce every color fluently. At the end, whoever got the most questions right got a gift, it contained stationery and cute stickers. The one who got it was Natan, my foster parents’ son! I was genuinely so proud of him.

As I went home, I was fully grateful to experience that moment because to have the opportunity to share the knowledge that I had with the kids felt really lovely, and as much as I felt like that, I hope a little of what we shared with them can be useful and remembered. Definitely one for the shelf of lovely memories! (AVG)