ESL Blogs

When you read the title above, you might wonder about what jamu is. Jamu is Indonesian traditional medicine. Each area in Indonesia probably has different term about its traditional medicine, but the term “Jamu” is more familiar and popular.

The reason I write this article is that I read one article here written by Dimas. He wrote briefly about the traditional medicine and what his favorite recipe. What intrigued me was a comment from Noaslpls where she said she disliked Jamu since it had bitter taste and weird aroma.

It reminded me with the common complaint about this medicine and I believe that maybe almost all traditional medicines in various cultures have the same problem: bitter taste, and  weird aroma. I remember that when I was a kid and had appetite problem. One solution that was offered by my grandma was a Jamu recipe named jamu brotowali. This recipe was notoriously bitter and a nightmare for all children during my generation. I didn't want to drink it, but they forced me to take it.

But, not all jamu recipes are bitter. One of my favorite is Beras Kencur (beras= rice, kencur: aromatic ginger). This beverage has a sweet taste and leaves warm sensation in your mouth and throat. It can even be served cold and hot as you like. There are another recipes that have sweet or less bitter tastes as well. For instance, jamu Kunyit Asam (kunyit= turmeric, asam= tamarind). This jamu is popular among women for its beauty benefits and health benefits.

Recently I found two interesting articles about this traditional medicine. These two innovations came from the same problem: people don't like Jamu since it has a bitter taste.  What if we manage to remove the bitter taste?

One innovation was started by a herbalist named Retno Widati who lived in Jakarta, Indonesia. She noticed that there were many traditional Jamu sellers here, but the consumers were reduced. So, she created jamu ice-cream since she noticed that all children like ice-cream. Well, even adults also like ice-cream. So, she turned the jamu beverages into ice-creams in order to attract and introduce the heritage to children and younger generations.

There was a group of students in Gadjah Mada University, Jogja that also did the same innovation. It is not clear if Retno and the students were related. However, I doubt that this innovation really address the bitter taste that some jamu have. I noticed that the recipes that were turned into ice-cream were the ones that had sweet or less bitter tastes.

Other innovation was made by a young female entrepreneur named Made Ayu. She was inspired by the popularity of coffee cafe in Indonesia. It seems that everywhere in this country, there is a coffee cafe. Then, she tried to adopt the same concept and created a jamu cafe named Reina Herbal Cafe in Solo, Indonesia. The cafe sells the traditional medicines in the forms of modern drinks in the modern nuances. The unique selling point is that she manages to remove the bitter taste.

I had a chance to interview Made Ayu. She told me that her mother has been working as a researcher for one of the biggest jamu producers in Indonesia. So, her mother finally is able to create certain formulas to remove the bitter tastes from various recipes. Even, they have menus special for children where the jamu beverages have various taste such as strawberry, chocolate, orange and wine.

So, what is the traditional medicine in your country? And what is the main problem that your country has to preserve the heritage? Did you ever hear about Jamu? Is there any jamu seller in your country?