Satay is a popular national dish of Indonesia inspired by its diverse ethnic groups’ culinary arts. In Indonesia, satay is widely available from an old-school traveling satay vendor, at a streetside warung, in a fancy restaurant or at a traditional celebration or festival.
Back in the days in distant villages of Bali & Java, every evening just before 6pm, the women of these villages would wear their colorful sarong and kebaya top, sling their baskets of satays on their backs, and come swaying down the night markets or the village squares, often singing flirtatiously to hook customers in.
Since there were so many of them (no less than 10 women every evening), these village women and their satays were then known and identified by the batik sarong (also known as sewek) they wore. The satays represented their image and reputation. They often shouted, “Sate Yam!” (chicken satay) to draw the attention of the customers. The women of each village or group were usually headed by a sort of ’satay mafia boss’, usually the male satay supplier, who led and supervised them. At the end of the night, the vendors would count the number of satays sold and be obliged to give commissions to these bosses.
This nostalgic parade of Sate Iboe Saroengan has long been a forgotten past of Indonesia and is only revived now at Samarra as part of the mission of Tugu Hotels & Restaurants Group. Join in the parade!
