Wirastani: This Is Not Paris, This Is Bekasi

Sunday, September 9, 2012

This Is Not Paris, This Is Bekasi

If Parisian have Escargot, the people of Bekasi have Tutut.

Escargot. Only the fancy people can eat such delicacy. Cooked with butter and wine, this particular land snail is a favorite among Parisian. It's a very popular dish and the whole population of Mother Earth is well-aware about its' existence. Even the Americans and Europeans have adapted the recipe and made their own version of Escargot. As much to my surprise, Indonesia also has its' own version of Escargot! It's name is Tutut.

A bowl of Tutut

Very small portion for something that costed Rp3.000,00 per portion

Tutut. We, Indonesian, are more familiar with the term "Keong Sawah". The fancy and the less fancy can eat such gourmet food. It looks like Escargot, or land snail, but much much smaller. Those gastropods are slightly bigger than my thumbnail, and the squishy meat inside the shells are as skinny as my pinky.

Put the Tutut inside a big pan, then cook them with ginger and garlic and other ingredients. Unlike Escargot, Tutut is served with broth, rich in flavor. As I told you before, Tutut, or Keong Sawah, are very small. We can't use fork and knife to take the meat out of the shell. The only dinning utensil that we can use is a toothpick and our ability to suck.

The first time I tried Tutut, I was flustered on how to eat it without me having to suck the meat out of the shell, because I find it messy and slightly uncomfortable. I ended up using a toothpick, poking the meat from the upper part of the shell and pull out from the opening at the bottom part of the shell. The meat was rather squishy and chewy, but not slimy. It was meaty, and it had a unique flavor. The broth was very savory and rich in flavor, but I didn't drink it all because I was not fond by its' odd and bright color.

A bowl of Tutut will only cost you Rp3.000,00. It's worth a shot if you would like to know how it tasted like! At first, I'm not sure about if it's okay to eat it or not, because it looks unhygienic and weird. But, I decided to gather up my courage and bought a portion. It turned out that Tutut didn't tasted as slimy and bad as I think it would. Go on, buy some and try it yourself!