Kopi Uthek Banyuwangi Festival Serves the Extraordinary Taste of Culinary
The residents of Banjar village in Licin sub-district, has its own unique way to enjoy coffee which is named as Kopi Uthek.
BANYUWANGI – The residents of Banjar village in Licin sub-district, has its own unique way to enjoy coffee which is named as Kopi Uthek. To introduce its uniqueness, the residents held Festival Sego Lemeng and Kopi Uthek. This event was held in the foothills of Mount Ijen, specifically in Banjar village, Licin sub-district, Banyuwangi, on Sunday (26/8/2018).
It is called as Kopi Uthek because it has its own way to enjoy the coffee. A cup of bitter coffee is enjoyed with a cube of palm sugar served separately. When the palm sugar is bitten, it will make a chewing noise like “thek”, which is used to name the coffee as Kopi Uthek. When the palm sugar has been put into the mouth, it is time to sip the coffee. The taste of the coffee and the palm sugar creates a unique and delicious taste.
“Banjar village is very potential to be the tourism destination, especially due to its location which is near to Mount Ijen. The culinary of Sego Lemeng and Kopi Uthek becomes one of its attractiveness,” said the Regent of Banyuwangi, Abdullah Azwar Anas when he opened the event via FaceTime, because currently, the Regent is still in Mecca to perform Hajj.
Anas said that the government of the district kept supporting Banjar village to become a tourism village by considering the fact that the residents of Banjar village that keeps improving its potential.
“Thanks to the creative and cooperative residents of Banjar who keep creating new tourism destinations in Banjar. Along with that, I expect that the public places will always be clean,” said Anas.
The opening of this festival was marked by firing arrow by the Vice Regent of Banyuwangi, Yusuf Widyatmoko. In fact, some of the residents there were developing the archery sport center.
In this festival, the residents changed the street of the village into a guest room with dozens of tables and chairs to welcome the visitors. Kopi Uthek and traditional snacks became the special dishes served on each table.
“The way to enjoy this coffee is very unique. Bite the sugar first, then sip the coffee. I like it. This is my first time drinking Kopi Uthek,” said Lusi, one of the visitors from Malang.
Besides Kopi Uthek, the residents also served Sego Lemeng for the visitors. Sego Lemeng is the dish which uses rice rolled in a banana leaf, filled with chopped chicken meat and tuna or anchovies. Then, the roll is put into a bamboo stove and grilled. The blend of the aroma from banana leaf and the smoky aroma from the grill creates a unique, savory, and delicious taste of Sego Lemeng.
“Sego Lemeng used to be the food supplies of the guerrillas of Banjar village when they fought the Dutch colonialists because Sego Lemeng has a long shelf life,” said the Head of Ministry of Culture and Tourism, M.Y. Bramuda.
One of the Sego Lemeng makers, Rohimah, said that Sego Lemeng was a characteristic food that was only made for communal feast in the village. She was happy because in the last three years, Sego Lemeng that was introduced in Banyuwangi Festival has become more popular.
“Nowadays, there are many residents making and selling Sego Lemeng, not only for communal feasts,” said Rohimah.
This festival was held for two days on Saturday and Sunday (25th to 26th August 2017). In this festival, the visitors could enjoy the culinary tour and the green nature of Banjar. This event was also enlivened by Jazz Patrol and art performances of Korea and Philippine by the students and teachers of cultural exchange program. (*)
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