Mielőtt Menekülőre Fognánk - Finding Refuge Through Gastronomy. First Evening: Indonesia

Mighelp (Migrants' Help Association of Hungary), an NGO established by refugees and their supporters in Budapest, in collaboration with Local Food in Budapest - Szatyor Shopping Community brought the taste of Indonesia to the local community. This event aims to introduce and break down prejudice against refugees and migrants who arrive in Hungary from distant cultures through open discussion around the dinner table. Indonesia had the honor to be the first country participated in this event.

The team with the Szatyor bolt owner

We were invited to organize this event as we are currently participating or has participated in one of the Mighelp courses. There were three of us Indonesians with one mission: conquering people in Budapest who were foreign or only has a little knowledge about Indonesia by giving comfort to their stomach :D With that on the mind, we need to have good weapons. The thing was, we had no experience in catering or cooking for a big group of people. The menu was chosen by how easy they were to make and the availability of the ingredients in Budapest.   

So here were what on our table:

Starter: Gado Gado (Salad served with peanut dressing). The peanuts dressing were still being prepared :P

Main course: Nasi Goreng (Fried rice)

  Dessert: Dadar Gulung (Rolled pancake coconut filled)

We gladly accommodated all the food requirement of the guests. All the food were vegetarian. We did not use any meat in our ingredients. One of the ladies from Palestine couldn't eat the dadar gulung as it contained eggs. But she gladly tasted the coconut filled when we offered her the leftover filling.  A Portuguese man had a high level of spicy intolerant. He could not eat the nasi goreng which we thought it was not spicy at all, oh well it was for us Indonesian. :P  Thanks God nobody had allergic to peanuts or else they would have been missed the heavenly taste of gado-gado.


The dinner went with lively conversations and end well. The guests were not only Hungarian but from other countries as well: Canada, Palestine, Lebanon, Sierra Leone, Australia, and Portugal. With what is happening now in this world this event was really important. We were sitting in one table no matter who you were, a native, an immigrant or a refugee and no matter where you came from. We were talking and eating like one big happy family. Hopefully, people left with a better understanding of each other culture and broke down all the prejudices. Or at least they could tell people that Indonesian people are nice and Indonesian food are delicious. Happy tummy happy world :)