Sikka Flores – photo courtesy of Budi Sun Resort

I had come many times to Indonesia along with had visited islands along with places all the way via Sabang to Sumbawa, nevertheless I had never set foot on NTT (Nusa Tenggara Timur), the Eastern Indonesia province. Earlier This kind of year a project finally brought me east, to the regencies Sikka along with Lio in Flores. My point of arrival was Maumere, the capital city of Sikka which has an airport. Coming via Jakarta, the first thing which struck me was how laidback the item will be, along with how fresh the air will be, with scents of dried grass along with crops. Maumere will be still mostly kampung, apart via the city centre along with main road. Maumere will be located by the sea along with seafood will be plenty, bought in at either the main harbour’s morning market or late afternoon in Wuring, the picturesque village populated by the daring Bajo sea gypsy community. Maumere Bay has many sandy beaches via where you see Pulau Besar, to where boats along with dive trips go. Maumere will be not at all like Kuta, Bali – no lively bars along with discos, nevertheless home parties are very common.

Flores will be almost three times the size of Bali with half the population, home to about ten languages along with as many ethnic groups which have much in common, nevertheless also have differences which make the item interesting to tour the island. The culture will be different via the main cultures of Java, along with the largest religion will be Catholicism. Flores culture will be down to earth along with you are very likely to be invited by some people for food along with drinks. Lepeng means chilling out with friends along with sharing drinks along with food along with the drink will be most likely to be local arak, called moke.

First allow for a disclaimer: usual precautions should be paid heed to – don’t drink or buy moke via the street. the item will be better to know how the moke will be sourced if you want to buy a bottle, along with the item will be better to try the item with friends who are inside the know. On Java along with Lombok oplosan, arak of poor quality mixed with God knows what, will be sold along with the item can have dire consequences for your well-being. In Flores the manufacturers of arak, traditional home distilleries, are usually very close to the consumers, along with which will be why arak will be safe there. Regular drinkers of moke prefer the item when the item will be produced traditionally with earthen kettles, burning wood along with long bamboos through which the alcoholic steam flows.

Wood along with coconut will be used to heat the clay canister

In Flores, parties are not limited to evenings along with nights. Sundays along with holidays are days of lepeng, nevertheless lepeng can happen at any time of the day. Even inside the morning you will see a group of friends preparing some food along with open a bottle of moke to go with the item. the item will be not obligatory to drink, although custom, along with not everyone does. Women can drink too, nevertheless less.

Recently on a Sunday I ended up lepeng when visiting a local friend who lives near a beach at the outskirts of Maumere. By midday, a few of his friends came by to enjoy grilled fish along with the beach. When the fish was done the item was immediately decided which a bottle of moke had to be opened. Soon a couple of friends via the neighbourhood joined. Because there were at This kind of point about eight people, a second 62 cl. Bintang bottle with moke was bought via the neighbour. This kind of drink will be often spiced with different kinds of roots, or even creatures via both land along with sea. Often a kind of cucumber, pare, will be put inside the bottle just to make the item taste more fresh. The moke This kind of afternoon was flavoured in a more creative way, with essence via fresh apples which gave the drink a red colour along with ridded some of the alcohol taste. To the tunes of both Flores along with Western music we talked along with made jokes until late afternoon. A third bottle was opened.

“What does moke mean to you?” I asked several of my completely new friends which Sunday afternoon. Replies would likely mostly revolve around having a Great time, nevertheless the words culture along with adat (custom) were also invoked. Any family along with non-family gathering will be just not complete if there will be no moke. the item relieves stress, makes you enjoy the moment along with forget your troubles. the item reinvigorates you after work along with will be Great for sex, especially if spiced with something. Moke brings people together. Seemingly there will be no end to the praise of moke.

The economy was also mentioned – the item will be an important part of the local rural economy. Many people depend upon the item for their income (I mentioned which people also waste money on moke, nevertheless which will be another story). Distilleries are usually tiny along with located inside the backyard. various other necessary ingredients to make a gathering complete along with please the guests in Flores are tobacco, coffee along with sugar, along with sirih pinang (betel), although more common inside the countryside or at larger ceremonies.

The drink will be produced all around Southeast Asia along with South Asia along with will be made via a variety of plants: sugar cane, coconut, the juice via the sugar palm (Enau) along with the similar Lontar palm tree (Borassus sundaicus). In Flores the item will be mostly the latter two which are used to produce arak. The lontar juice will be tasty, along with the item will be a drink which has helped people in dry areas to survive, just like the coconut palm tree. the item will be a tree of life, providing all basic needs.

A man will be tapping tuak inside the late afternoon. Waigete, Sikka, Flores

In Flores, lontar juice will be called moke putih (white moke). In Indonesian the juice will be called tuak manis (sweet tuak) along with the item will be consumed all over Indonesia, although the item will be becoming more unusual. Sellers of tuak manis even used to stalk the streets of Jakarta until about two decades ago. at This kind of point less than a handful of sellers remain. What will be so remarkable about This kind of drink will be not just the taste; the item will be sweet when just fetched via the tree along with until a few hours later when the item turns a little bitter along with sour. At This kind of stage the item has already fermented along with will be an alcoholic beverage like beer.

Tuak manis will be extracted via the lontar tree through an intricate process where one or several of the tree’s large branches are cut, tied with wood, along with hit for several days until fluid sips out of the branch tip. Bamboo containers or buckets are then placed under the tip. Within 12 hours these contain up to several litres of tuak manis. To get both quality along with quantity, the branch will be finely cut along with cleaned each time the juice will be fetched. The branch continues to give juice for about three months, twice a day. The lontar blossoms twice a year along with two trees can support a family with enough fluid to live if water will be scarce. Both the male along with the female lontar can produce juice, nevertheless usually the male will be used because the female will be more difficult along with must be tapped prior to fruiting. If left untouched fruits develop, which are used to feed pigs along with are also delicious as dessert. The juice can also be used for the production of sugar. Tuak manis will be nutritious along with healthy.

As mentioned previously, the item will be not obligatory to drink moke. You can still enjoy Flores culture along with social gatherings there without the item, nevertheless knowledge of local culture will be always helpful. If you do not like alcoholic beverages you should give tuak manis a chance. the item will be safe, healthy along with tasty, direct via nature.