Cempaka Culture and Tourism: The Indonesian Soup Obama Loved as a Child Gets Worldwide Attention

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

The Indonesian Soup Obama Loved as a Child Gets Worldwide Attention

Jakarta Globe, Michele Kayal | November 17, 2010

Washington. President Barack Obama carried a message of unity and tolerance during his visit last week to Indonesia, but it was his love of meatball soup that made for worldwide headlines.

This file photo shows bakso, an Indonesian soup, which has piqued
global interest since US President Barack Obama professed his love
for the dish. Bakso is a savory soup that includes meatballs, noodles
and other seasonal ingredients. (AP Photo/Larry Crowe)

"Bakso, nasi goreng ... semuanya enak!'' or "Meatball soup, fried rice ... it's all delicious!" Obama said during a state dinner in Jakarta.

The president spent four years of his childhood in Indonesia.

Bakso, a savory soup of meatballs and noodles often garnished with bok choy, wontons, tofu, crisp fried shallots and hard-boiled egg, is a go-to dish sold from pushcarts to hungry students, midnight revelers and just about anybody who wants a satisfying snack any time of day.

"When people hang out at night and they feel hungry, they go for bakso," says Djoko Supatmono, executive chef at Satay Junction, an Indonesian restaurant in New York.

Like many dishes that bubble up through the masses, bakso has endless variations.

The meatballs — which vary in size from golf balls to tennis balls — can be made with beef, chicken, pork or even fish.

Ditto for the stock. The noodles can be made from mung bean starch, rice or wheat.

"This soup takes on many guises, but it always has meatballs, it always has noodles, it always has broth,'' says Ken Woytisek, chef instructor in Asian cuisines at the Culinary Institute of America's St. Helena campus.

"It's really a multicultural society, so there are lots of variations. But it's mainly the meat in the meatball that changes.''

Like most street food, bakso has an air of mystery.

The soup and the noodles probably originated in China, but the meatball, Woytisek says, may have come from the Dutch, who colonized Indonesia in the 19th century.

And then there is the fact that it is street food.

"While it's generally accepted that meat, in some form, is involved in the balls, the rest is unclear,'' says James Oseland, editor-in-chief of Saveur magazine, and author of "Cradle of Flavor: Home Cooking from the Spice Islands of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.''

"Frankly, I don't know what goes into them, and probably we're better off not knowing. It's like the hot dog.''

Meatball soups are found throughout southeast Asia, but aficionados like Oseland especially prize bakso.

"The Indonesian version really does tend to be the king, the real granddaddy of all of the southeast Asian beef ball brethren,'' he says.

"It's the whole idea of Asian beef balls taken to a higher realm. They're just better tasting.''

Even Indonesians split hairs, however. "People will take you to task if you say `I really like this vendor,' '' Woytisek says.

"They'll say 'No, no! You have to go this vendor.' They never tire of arguing over who's got the best.''

But what are the criteria? Al dente noodles and perfect meatballs.

"What makes a great bakso is a springy versus rubbery ball,'' Oseland says.

"And there's some sort of gentle spicing. There's always this perfect balance between the spicing and the meat that separates the good ones from the mediocre."

Associated Press