Toraja Coffee: a Rich Taste of the Highlanders

What's a highlander good at? Sword fighting? Nah, that's Christopher Lambert (1957-...) in his old movie back in the late 80's, depicting an immortal Scottish Highland warrior.

In South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, the highlanders of Tana Toraja prefer a peaceful way of life. And among others, they are good at cultivating Coffea arabica. The rich taste of that black liquid called Toraja coffee is well known all over the world.

Toraja coffee tends to have a relatively low-toned yet vibrant acidity. Among arabica coffee beans, those cultivated in Toraja has a very distinguished personality, in terms of its full bodied taste paired with caramelized and unique aroma. It generally display nutty or warm spice notes, like cinnamon or cardamom. It also gives a crisp and clean aftertaste.

Such distinct coffee flavor owes to the earth characteristic and the other vegetation of Tana Toraja. The trees are commonly grown at 1,100 - 1,500 meters above sea level, while the premium ones are cultivated at 1,600 - 1,800 meters above sea level.

However, most coffee plantations in Toraja are small-scale family farms, with only about 5% of total production cropped from seven larger estates. Coffee shrubs are planted near their houses, which provides supplemental income.

Each household processes their own coffee after harvesting. Traditional and manual methods are still applied. Coffee cherry pulping process is done with small machine, or simply by crushing them with a board. Fermentation process is done in buckets or bags for a day, to break down the fruity mucilage layer, and then washed and stored in clean water buckets. The parchment coffee is then dried under the sun for a few hours, before farmer can sell them to collector during market day.

Local farmer drying coffee beans, with the background of tongkonan (Toraja's traditional house). 

The green coffee bean then delivered to a larger mill. It can go straight to the wet-hulling process, or further dried under the sun to reduce the moist before hulling.When the hulling, grading, and sorting process are done, the coffee beans are packed to be shipped across the globe.

Now, the roasting process can be done somewhere in Seattle or anywhere else in the world. Some say that the best flavor from Toraja coffee beans will come out after roasting them just up to the 2nd crack, when the brown-greenish color still visible.

As for the brewing, any kind of methods will do just fine. And, if you prefer to add stuffs to your black coffee, you might as well experiment with the rich taste base of Toraja coffee.

Where it comes from...

Map of Indonesia, that's South Sulawesi Province highlighted in red.

Tana Toraja is a Regency in South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. The mountainous region is 300 km away from Makassar, the province's capital. Tana Toraja means Land of Toraja. And, the word Toraja itself derived from to-riaja, local term for people of the highland.

There is no proper literature explaining how coffee seeds first arrived in Tana Toraja, and when did the local inhabitants start cultivating coffee. However, it was the Dutch colonial government who discovered the fertile soil for coffee in the southern part of Sulawesi, and establishing a 300 hectares coffee plantation under the name of Kalosi Celebes Coffee (Celebes is an old name of Sulawesi).

The coffee plantation business was abandoned during the war for Indonesian independence. And after the establishment of the Republic in 1945, the new nation-state was incapable to boost the business back.

An old Japan telephone card designed to promote Toraja coffee, sold on e-bay as collector's item.

The re-birth of Toraja coffee industry was marked in 1973, when a Japanese coffee company explored the region and observed the remaining of Dutch colonial era coffee plantation.The Japanese investors help building the necessary infrastructure for the Toraja coffee to be marketed worldwide (again). So, it is natural that Japanese may also took pride in Toraja coffee.

Ayam Rica-Rica: Manado's Hot and Spicy Chiken

Ayam Rica-Rica is a dish originated from Manado, in North Sulawesi Province. The main ingredient is of course Ayam (that means chicken in Bahasa Indonesia). The other main ingredient mentioned in its name is Rica (means spicy or chili in local language of Manado). There's no tomato involved in that bright red sauce...

Although only chili gets the honor of being in the title, almost every kind of spices and herbs in the kitchen also goes to the pan. The rich flavor wouldn't lie, when you went full scale on the long list of spices. A satisfying meal is complete with only a bowl of rice, and a (few) glass of water to overcome the hot and spicy sensation.

Cooking the dish...

As always, traditional recipes may vary from door-to-door. But here's my favorite recipe of Ayam Rica-Rica.

Ingredients:

• Whole chicken, chopped into 16 chunk.
• 10 red chili (may add accordingly)
• 10 Thai chili / rawit merah  (may add at your own risk...)
• 10 shallots
• 7 cloves of garlic
• 4 cm of ginger
• 2 stalk of lemongrass, bruised
• 5 kaffir lime leaves
• 2  pandan leaves
• 2 strands of kemangi leaves (basil would do)
• 2 tbsp of lemon / lime juice
• 2 tbsp of oil
• 500 mL of coconut water (plain water would do)
• 1 tbsp of sugar
• salt

Directions:

• Grind chili, shallot, garlic, and ginger into a paste. 
• Heat oil in a pan, sauté the spices paste with some sugar. Add the lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves.
• Add the chicken, stir well. Wait a little bit before pouring the coconut water and adding pandan leaves.
• Add lemon / lime juice and salt (another method suggest marinating the chicken in lemon / lime juice and salt in advance)
• Lower the heat and put a lid on the pan. Check on the water, until the chicken is done. Add kemangi leaves just before turning off the fire. (Alternatively, use a slow pressure cooker to make the chicken bones tender) 

Where it comes from...

Map of Indonesia, that's North Sulawesi Province highlighted in red.

Manado refers to an ethnic group originated from North Sulawesi Province. Manado people also refers themselves as Kawanua or Minahasa people. Manado is also the name of the capital city of North Sulawesi Province.

But don't worry, because we don't need to go to North Sulawesi for a taste of Ayam Rica-Rica. Plenty of restaurant in Jakarta offers special cuisine from Manado. Most dishes from Manado has spicy and fresh sour taste.