Page 36 - JaKita 10th Edition 2021

36 CULINARY

atma could not refrain from liking Lauw
Favourite at The Bakery. She, a mother of two kids who lives

Bogor Palace Fin Kalibata, South Jakarta, never forgets to
serve Lauw breads for her family’s breakfast. “Our
favourites are the roti gambang and banana
According to an old brochure among the collec- cheese bread,” she told JaKita.
tions of Chinese Crossbreed Library Museum,
Lauw bakery becomes the favourite of those liv- Fatma admitted that Lauw bakery has become
ing in Bogor Presidential Palace. It is also known her family’s favourite bread, and she never gets
as the daily breakfast menu for the Palace, which
was built by Van Imhoff in 1745-1750. bored in eating them. So does the children, who
love Lauw’s banana cheese bread. “It feels empty
In 1940, Lau Tjoan To founded Lauw by making if we don’t eat Lauw Bread,” she said shyly.
the bakery himself, as he was born to a baker
family. His father, Lau Lok Soei, was the owner She believed her father was the one who
of Insulide bread factory. Lau Tjoan To or Junus introduced her to Lauw Bakery the first time. She
Jahya did marketing for his bakery with a gerobak
(cart) to sell the bread for his customers. After his is used to have Lauw bread for breakfast since
bakery became well-known in 1948, he started to she was a kid. “Not only it tastes delicious. The
open a store at Gondangdia, Central Jakarta. bread’s texture is denser and it is very affordable,”
she explained.
In the 1980s, Lauw Bakery started to open in var-
ious places and it became everyone’s favourite Moreover, Fatma has special memory regarding
bakery in Jakarta. The taste of the bakery may
not so different from the bread made by Tan Ek the Lauw bakery: she remembers when her
Tjoan, but it has its own unique taste, especially
in its roti gambang, the Betawi traditional bread
with cinnamon flavor. For that reason, Lauw bak-
ery becomes identical to roti gambang. In the
1980s until late 1990s, roti gambang became very
popular as it was everyone’s favourite, from old
people, teenagers to kids.

The Lauw Bakery stores spread among the city,
including at those living in small, narrow alleys in
our capital city. Not only for the little people, the
bakery is also a favourite for the people of the
upper middle class. In fact, it was once being sold
at the malls in elite area of Kelapa Gading, North
Jakarta.
Unfortunately, entering the 2000, more modern
bread and bakeries were introduced it made
Lauw Bakery became less popular. No millennial
is expected to know the delicacy of the bakery.
However, the bakery is still persisted until today,
since the bread is still the choice for the parents
and grandparents. It is indeed legendary.
yen

10th EDITION 2021
Sarana Informasi Pemerintah Provinsi DKI Jakarta