Selamatan Mabon Harvest Supper

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

Food is memory. Whether we are aware of it or not, our most important and perhaps intimate memories involved a meal - first dates, birthdays, pay days, sporting events and even funerals. With greater access to food, the meal itself simply becomes a backdrop to the occasion being celebrated. There was a time, lost in memory, the harvest of said food was cherished and valued beyond anything else for the life of the community relied on that year’s growing season.

In Indonesia, ‘Selamatan” is a communal feast celebrating a special occasion by giving thanks to everyone involved from birthdays to anniversaries and house warmings to business milestones. Traditionally, farmers on the island of Java organized a ‘Selamatan’ with a variety of rituals and offerings as a symbol of gratitude and to pay respects to Dewi Sri, the Javanese fertility goddess, for a bountiful harvest. Today, the celebration is highlighted by a cone-shaped rice meal with meat and vegetable dishes called Nasi Tumpeng.

Batara Indra Soepraba, also known as Mister Obat, is a visual creative who came to Manchester in 2021 to pursue their MA in Visual Anthropology at the world-renowned Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology within the University of Manchester. For the last three years, Obat volunteered at Platt Fields Market Garden maintaining the garden and at times preparing Indonesian snacks for the volunteers. The MUD team encouraged Obat to prepare this year’s harvest festival pop-up utilizing some of the produce the MUD volunteers grew throughout the growing season. Their experience in the kitchen began in Los Angeles with his late mother, a respected cook in the LA Indonesian community. Since then, he has cooked in cafes in the San Francisco Bay Area and Manchester.

While Obat assisted Chef Aileen Suzara at community events in the San Francisco Bay Area, Obat learned the importance of incorporating storytelling and memory with food, which they hope to share at this year’s Selamatan celebration dinner.

Seasonal produce from the garden

• Tomatoes
• Red Chili Peppers
• Kale
• Carrot
• Shallots
• Potatoes
• Garlic
• Cabbage
• Green Onion
• Cucumber

Menu

First Course

• Bakwan sayur with jamu kunyit asam
• Vegetable fritter paired with an herbal turmeric tamarind aperitif

Second Course

• Sayur sop with tahu goreng
• Rustic garden vegetable soup accompanied with fried tofu

Third Course

• Nasi tumpeng consisting of nasi kuning, ayam goreng lengkuas, tempe bacem, telor balado and urap kale
• A celebratory communal dish served with turmeric coconut rice, galangal fried chicken, palm sugar and herbs fried tempe, spiced coconut kale salad, spicy balado fried eggs

Fourth Course

• Bubur ketan hitam served with pisang goreng
• Sweet black glutinous rice with pandan coconut cream accompanied with fried plantains

Fifth Course

• Soda Gembira
• Indonesian "happy soda" consisting of rose syrup, condensed milk and soda water

There will be alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks available for purchase on the night.

Join us on Saturday, 28 September 2024 at 6.15pm at Platt Fields Market Garden.

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

Host or Publisher Manchester Urban Diggers