If you’re hungry for Padang food, trust someone from West Sumatra. If you’re looking for gudeg (jackfruit in coconut milk), ask somebody from Yogyakarta. But if you want the tastiest martabak, you should look for Teguh Iman, who sells the pancake-like dessert in Benhil, South Jakarta. Teguh, who inherited his secret recipe from his dad, is from Lebaksiu Lor in Slawi, Central Java, otherwise known as Kampung Martabak.
My JaHow long have you been selling martabak here?
It’s been five years. I sold martabak in Kalimantan for two years with my uncle before I came here. My dad has sold martabak for 17 years in Jakarta. Now we have three martabak stalls around here, run by my dad, my brothers and me. We’re open every day from 4:30 p.m. to 1 a.m.
So it’s a family business. Did your dad pass his martabak secrets down to you?
Yeah, I learned from him, starting from when I was in junior high school. I could make it after two weeks of training.
Is it difficult to learn how to make martabak?
Yeah, martabak telur [egg martabak] is more difficult than martabak manis [sweet martabak]. Initially, when I made the egg martabak, the batter was no good. But after a while, I was able to make it properly.
What makes martabak Barokah better than the rest?
It tastes different. You’ve tasted it, right? Ours is tastier.
What’s the secret?
We use coconut oil in the sweet martabak, and lamb curry in the egg one. That’s what makes it so delicious! We got the recipe from dad, who inherited it from our great-great-grandfather, who said that it originally came from an Indian who came to our village many years ago.
Is it OK if I let people know your secret? What if others copy it?
Mmm, I think it’s OK. Everyone is entitled to try their luck. If others tried it, it would taste different somehow, even if it came from the same recipe.
How many martabak do you sell a day?
Between 15 and 20. The egg martabak isn’t selling so well. According to Javanese
Primbon Jawa [the Javanese almanac] this is a bulan apit [difficult month] , so it’s not a good time for business. That’s what has caused the drop in sales. We were selling around 80.
What about ingredients?
We need around 60 duck eggs daily, plus chicken eggs and lamb. We also need flour, cheese, chocolate, peanuts and margarine.
So the best seller is the sweet martabak?
Yeah, but we used to have a loyal client who regularly ordered around 50 egg martabak! He was an ethnic Arab from Petamburan [West Jakarta]. At least once a week he placed a big order, I think it was for parties. But he died two years ago. It was a big loss for us.
So how do you survive now without his big orders?
Well, some offices around Sudirman, like Bintang Sampoerna, and other offices in the HSBC and Standard Chartered building order martabak from us. Although the orders are not as big as the Arabian customer, 10 martabak each week is not bad.
Do you have to pay to be able to sell here?
Yeah, we pay Rp 100,000 ($10) a month to someone here.
Do you take days off?
I take one day off a month, or sometimes only one day every two months. If I didn’t work, I wouldn’t feel right because I’m used to working every day.
What’s you’re favorite place to go in the city when you’re not working?
We’ve been to Ancol, Depok, Bogor, Taman Mini and Monas. My favorite is going to Ancol and eating clams on the beach at night. The clams taste fresher than the ones here. We like to go there after we close. I go with my brothers and friends on four motorbikes. It’s great fun! Sometimes we go to Monas to play football too.
Any interesting stories about martabak?
Our hometown, Lebaksiu Lor, is acknowledged by MURI [Indonesian Museum of Records] as the maker of the biggest egg martabak ever. It was about 1.5 meters long and was made from 407 duck eggs and 10 kilos of flour by the 10 best martabak makers in our hometown. They got paid Rp 2.5 million each. The martabak was then put up for auction and sold for Rp 12.5 million. The buyer gave it away to be distributed in the kampung and we used the money to build a mosque. The event was held to celebrate the 407th anniversary of Tegal city.
What are the pros and cons of selling martabak?
The best thing is that there’s no one telling me what to do. I’m happy because I’m my own boss. I worked at a seafood stall back home, but that only lasted for two months. I couldn’t stand other people telling me to do things. But it’s depressing when it rains here. It always floods even if it only rains for one or two hours. We don’t close, we just wait for the rain to stop. It’s a bit better now, though, the river has been dredged to make it deeper.
How long do you plan to continue doing this?
Well, I don’t want to sell martabak for the rest of my life. But I do want it to keep the family business running. I hope we can set up more stalls in other locations, hopefully in Pondok Pinang.
Will you pass on your secrets to your children?
I’m not married yet, but if have a son, I don’t want him to sell martabak. I want him to be in the Army so he can have a better life. We should have big dreams!
Teguh Iman was talkingto Sagita Adesywi.
Anies Baswedan Rektor Universitas Paramadina Anies Baswedan terpilih sebagai satu dari 20 tokoh yang membawa perubahan dunia untuk 20 tahun mendatang versi majalah Foresight yang terbit di Jepang akhir April ini.
