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About 86% of Indonesia's population is Muslim, making it the largest
single Muslim population in the world. Many of the Muslim sects, however,
adhere more to local customs mixed with pre-Muslim animism and other
religions rather than strict Sharia law. The rest of the population are
11% Christian, 2% Hindu (almost all on the island of Bali), and 1%
Buddhist (nearly all ethnic Chinese).
Ethnic Chinese are only 2% of the population but controle a very large
proportion of Indonesian wealth and commerce. This has resulted in high
resentment and occasionally violence.
Indonesian Cuisine - Overview
It is hard to define an "Indonesian Cuisine" because food customs are
divided into so many small ethnic populations. Also, preparation of food
in Indonesia is not particularly respected, often falling to the lowest
ranking person available. No real effort has been made by Indonesians to
systemize the cuisine or even record recipes, which are mainly an oral
tradition.
The net result of this chaotic situation is that what most people know
as Indonesian cuisine was defined not by Indonesians but by the Dutch.
Interest in writing cookbooks of Indonesian cuisine mostly falls to
Indonesian expatriots in Europe and to Westerners with experience in
Indonesia.
Customs
See my article Western Adoption of Asian Food for
general background.
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