Ethnogastronomy of bubur pedas of the Malay community in North Sumatra, Indonesia and its contribution to local food security
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Abstract. Nasution J, Pasaribu N, Silalahi M, Harahap RH. 2025. Ethnogastronomy of bubur pedas of the Malay community in North Sumatra, Indonesia and its contribution to local food security. Asian J Ethnobiol 8: 312-323. The majority of Indonesian traditional foods are undocumented and endangered due to globalization and shifting diets. Bubur pedas ('spiced' or 'spicy porridge'), a Ramadan dish of the Malay community in North Sumatra, Indonesia, with over a century of history, is also at risk of of being forgotten or losing its prominence due to demographic change and cultural assimilation. Therefore, this study applied an ethnogastronomic method to determine key species’ ingredients in bubur pedas and the contribution to local food security. Fieldwork was conducted from January to December 2023 in six historical Malay Sultanate areas, namely Medan, Langkat, Deli Serdang, Serdang Bedagai, Batubara, and Tanjungbalai. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, participatory observations, and plant identification with 27 key informants. In total, 76 plant species from 33 families were documented, with leaves as the most common ingredient (45%). The results showed a strong correlation between Use Value (UV) and Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC), with 12 key species identified using the Relative Importance (RI) Index. The primary ingredients, determined based on high RI indices, were Allium cepa, Arachis hypogaea, Coriandrum sativum, Cocos nucifera, Curcuma longa, Cuminum cyminum, Daucus carota, Etlingera elatior, Ipomoea batatas, Manihot esculenta, Oryza sativa, and Solanum tuberosum. Mapping the results onto FAO’s food security pillars showed that bubur pedas contributes to species availability, easy access through markets and household gardens, nutritional and medicinal value, as well as seasonal resilience. The study highlighted the role of Malay culinary heritage in sustaining culturally embedded, ecologically resilient food practices.
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