The rijsttafel — the "rice table" — began as the Dutch colonial name for a Javanese habit: a single meal made of many small dishes, eaten together with rice. At Pendopo Agung our kitchen cooks it the way the courts of Central Java would recognise.
Work starts the day before. The gudeg, young jackfruit or coconut flower, braises overnight with palm sugar and teak leaves until it turns deep red-brown. At dawn the sambals are ground in stone: sambal bajak with shallots and palm sugar, a sharp green sambal of chillies and tomatillo, and a fermented sambal terasi for the brave.
On the table
Twelve dishes arrive at once on hand-thrown stoneware: chicken opor in coconut and coriander seed, beef empal fried after slow simmering, tempeh bacem, a crisp duck from Kalasan, steamed river fish in banana leaf, vegetables in turmeric coconut, and a bowl of crackers and crisp shallots to scatter over everything.
It ends with klepon — pandan rice dumplings that burst with liquid palm sugar — and a glass of jamu. The rijsttafel is served every evening from 18:30; a vegetarian temple version is always available.