PrintRijstaffel
One of my most glorious meals ever, ever was the feast I had in Amsterdam in the '80s. I invited a woman from my hotel to join me. The fabulous rijstaffel turned out to be so much more than dinner. Even the acquaintance who joined me, this pleasant woman from my hotel with whom I'd nothing in common except gender (I was a 30ish arty NY type recovering from an affair; she, a 40ish blonde Southern CA babe recovering from an eye job), evolved into a boon companion. That long narrow table, the big bowls of rice surrounded by the myriad of little bowls bearing vegetables hot and sweet, beef satay, peanuts, and more....and gales of laughter, and lovely bottles of Heineken. (I'd never much cared for beer before.)
A friend found a little Indonesian place in the Turtle Bay area (on either 2nd or 3rd Ave. in the East 40s) shortly after I returned home, but the ambience was lousy, and the food just wasn't up to snuff. Does anybody know of an Indonesian restaurant in NY? In the US?
Has anybody made rijstaffel at home?
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4 Comments:
In NYC, Bali Nusah Indah, on 9th Av., b/t 45th & 46th Sts., immediately springs to mind though I've never tried it. They do a rijstaafel.
Here's what's listed on Menupages: http://www.menupages.com/restaurants.asp?home=Y&cuisineid=33
In the mid-1980's, when I was in Amersterdam with my husband and daughter, we had a rijstaafel experience, which we thorougly enjoyed.
A few years ago, I organized a rijstaafel for a dining group I used to belong to. It was at the home of one of the members. I gathered together the recipes, and each woman prepared one or two of the various components. Getting some of the required ingredients did prove a bit of a challenge. However, the food turned out to be delicious, and everyone agreed it was a huge success! (Note: This dining group was under the umbrella of a woman's organization. However, husbands, s.o.'s, and friends came to all the dinners.)
RGR at 1:42PM on 03/10/07
What a brilliant idea for entertaining! I'm definitely going to borrow that. Thanks also for the restaurant info. I thoroughly enjoyed fantasizing about the menu.
baboo at 7:19PM on 03/10/07
They say Rijsttafel (not rijstaafel), meaning "table of rice", is an invention of the Dutch, made in Holland when they yearned for the nice food from their former colony Indonesia. It is a large selection of all kinds of Indonesian food set out on a large table. You could prepare, for example : satay, gado-gado (mixture of boiled and fresh vegetables), peanut sauce, fried tempeh (kind of tofu), string beans, sajur (soupy dish with vegetables and boiled egg for example), shrimp, beef, pork dishes, and condiments like fried onions, seroendeng (fried coconut flakes with peanuts and spices), sambal (hot sauce) and atjar (sweet and sour preserved vegetables). All is eaten with rice, either white or fried (nasi goreng). So, prepare some rice and add a couple of dishes (as complicated or plentiful as you like) - and you have your Rijsttafel at home!
kattebelletje at 6:21AM on 03/14/07
There is an Indonesian restaurant in Columbus, OH called A Taste of Bali. http://www.tasteofbali.com/
kuhlimuh at 2:37PM on 03/14/07