In Manado in Indonesia, the must-have centerpiece makan at many family Christmas feasts is Babi Putar, or spit roast pigs, and Ketoprak, a vegetarian beehoon and tofu dish doused with peanut sauce, is the closest cousin I connect to our Satay Beehoon. Terik Daging, is a sort of Javanese rendang that comes more savoury and salty than it is sweet. I do know a bit about Indonesian food culture but much of what I know, I owe it to one man. He’s a national culinary treasure of Indonesia, a well published food book author, owns a string of restaurants and bakeries, has cooked for US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, his President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Culinary Advisor to their national airline Garuda and has his own television series “Ceritarasa William Wongso” on their cable channel. That’s the least anyone dedicated to this field since 1977, should achieve by now. I first met him over a decade ago through an introduction by our very accomplished French culinary maestro Justin Quek.

Pak William Wongso is a man of very little words. Ask him to confirm if the Javanese indeed have the sweetest tooth in Indonesia and he’ll go “mmm” with a nod and tell you some of the sweet signatures they adore.  But he gets all hyped up and a-flutter when he sees or eats something that will expand his knowledge in this field. Like how he is full of questions about Indian Rojak when he had it at Geylang Serai and he was full of wonder about its Indian origins, but now knows that it’s actually a Singapore Indian creation.

This Ramadan month, for the first time, Pak William had been invited by the Garuda Airline  and the Concorde Hotel folks to helm the Buka Puasa buffet at their café. He called me and babbled on about the many interesting dishes he’s creating for the feast, many not seen in Singapore menus. So yeah, I got more questions for him, but this time, he’s got more than a syllable for an answer. I was particularly interested in the Pepes Bandeng Presto Keluak and he offered a “ it’s like a buah keluak fish otah. We pressure cooked the milkfish till the bones are soft, then smear in with spiced buah keluak paste, wrapped it in banana leaf and steamed it. “. It came so earthy, softly firm and the hint of the spiced keluak paste was so well delivered. I had to dig into the Terik Daging which he says, “don’t call it a Javanese rendang, the spices used are different. Call it Javanese caramelized beef”, (which is the same term he used to describe his beef rendang when I presented him at a culinary conference in Napa Valley, San Francisco last year.). It was moist and not too hard and he left slivers of tendon in the meat which was adorable. It tasted more like a savoury slow braised beef and I can imagine how delightful it can be over a bed of steamed rice or even his seafood nasi goreng. You can, of course, counter this heaviness with his Asinan Jakarta, a piquant, tangy and spicy pickled fruit rojak delivered with a special punch here- with soft shell crabs. Just imagine the sensation.

the Pepes Bandeng Presto Keluak smeared with buah keluak paste is a show stealer.

I also enjoyed his Salmon Buntil (wrap), a traditional dish which is steamed  fish parcels wrapped in papaya leaves sitting in a fulfillingly rich coconut curry. But he can only use bak choy (Chinese cabbage) as there are no known approved papaya leaf suppliers here and plucking them off the streets just won’t do. One of his desserts is a leaf wrapped steamed minced banana with coconut cream. Is was just soft enough and the tang, sweetness and richness from the coconut cream, was just right.

Although he replaced papaya leaves with bak choy, this Salmon Bunting is just as delightful over the rich lemak sauce.

Pak Willam and his team from Jakarta will present at least twelve unique items each day , which changes every two day, to go with the usual buffet spread. Of course you don’t need to be a Muslim to enjoy this, just a curious foodie with a big appetite.  And by the way, one good news- a child under 12 dines for free with every paying adult.

considered national culinary treasure of Indonesia Pak William Wongso, show off his rarely seen in Singapore dishes.