Page 37 - JaKita 08st Edition 2021
P. 37
CULINARY 37
According to one of the workers at Esturame, Kusman,
The History of Milk
the ginger and honey milk are most likely to be sold out
every day. The Jakarta people seemed to love those
two the most, while the plain whole milk became the in Indonesia
favourite of many famous comedian, such as (late)
Timbul, (late) Basuki and (late) Cahyono.
he general governor of East Indies,
Esturame sold an average of 700 glasses of milk every Thomas Stamford Raffles said in his
day. They used around 200 litres of whole milk from a Tbook, History of Java (1817) that the
dairy farmer. During weekends, the milk usually sold natives especially the Javanese didn’t consume
for almost 500 litres per day. neither cow or buffalo milk. According to him,
yen back then the buffalos would only be used for
its power. The natives thought the milk is the
white blood of cows and buffalos.
In 18th century, people of Indonesia didn’t
know the benefit of milk. Moreover, there was
only a few of cows and buffalos that produced
good quality milk. Therefore, in 19th century
the Dutch colony gradually imported dairy
cows from the Netherland, India and Australia.
They were placed and bred in cold-air regions,
such as Lembang, Bandung, West Java.
The milk production was indeed for the
Europeans, not the natives. They produced
milk so the Dutch people who stay in Indonesia
have balanced, nutritious diet.
In the same century, the middle-class
Indonesians like priyayi (noblemen) and
educated men, including those who speak
Dutch started to include milk and dairy food,
such as margarine and cheese in their daily
food.
Today, milk has been included in everyone’s
daily consumption, although the consumption
level for milk in Indonesia is still low, unlike the
neighbouring countries such as Singapore and
Malaysia.
yen
8th EDITION 2021
Sarana Informasi Pemerintah Provinsi DKI Jakarta
