Journal of Ethnic Foods

The food culture of Indonesia is shaped by several factors such as nature, history, and culture. With its enormous geographic and cultural diversity across the archipelagos, it is evident that Indonesian cuisine is rich in variety and taste. As such, food can be utilised as a strategic means to boost the tourism industry of the country. In the past 5 years, the Indonesian government has given a great support for the development of culinary tourism as one special interest tourism sector that is promoted extensively to the international market. Promoting Indonesian culinary tourism should not be merely exposing the ample varieties of the traditional food that Indonesia has, but more importantly, telling the market about the socio-cultural values behind the food itself. This study aimed to portray how Indonesian food culture has been shaped, developed, and held as the value embedded in the society and has been passed from one generation to the next. For the purpose of the study, a range of literature from journal articles, books, archives, magazines, and articles to Internet sources that are relevant to Indonesian culinary discussions was reviewed.

Indonesian food culture mapping: a starter contribution to promote Indonesian culinary tourism