If we talk about Papua traditional food, you may directly think about Papeda and Sago Martabak. In fact, there are other typical foods you must try. One of them is Papua Gedi Rolls.
Gedi Roll is a local food from Grime Nawa Valley. The locals call this food Swotpun or Swamening. It gets its name from the main ingredient, Gedi leaves. Do you want to know more about this food? Check out this explanation.
Gedi Roll Ingredients
As the traditional food in Papua Indonesia, Gedi Roll is made of vegetables and other natural ingredients. You can find all these ingredients in all regions in Papua.
The main ingredient of this food is Gedi leaves. The shape of these leaves is similar to cassava leaves. Papuans consume this plant as a vegetable.
In addition to Gedi leaves, you also need to prepare other ingredients. For instance, you need sago, lilin vegetable, and grated coconut. Lilin vegetable is a kind of sugarcane that can be eaten immediately.
How to Make Gedi Rolls?
The process of making this West Papua traditional food is so simple.
- First, you have to grate the coconut.
- Then, put sago, lilin vegetable, and coconut on the Gedi leaves.
- After that, wrap those ingredients using Gedi leaves and tie them tightly. Boil this roll for about 30 minutes.
- Then, this roll is ready to serve.
Since the cooking process is easy, everyone can make this food. Both adults and children can make Gedi Rolls easily.
The ancient people of Grime Nawa have made this dish for decades. Then, they teach their children to make this special dish.
How to Preserve This Papua Gedi Rolls?
Traditional food from Papua can be extinct if parents do not teach their children to make it. It also can occur for Gedi Rolls. That is why parents have to encourage youths to learn how to make this special dish.
In the past, locals consume Gedi rolls as their daily food. However, today, this Papuan food can be a source of income, especially for Grime Nawa residents.
They can make Gedi Rolls and sell them in the market. It can be an effective way to increase their financial condition. Some people sell this dish for Rp3.000. Even though the price of this dish is affordable, the sellers can earn a hundred thousand Rupiahs in a day.
The government expects that Gedi Rolls can become more popular not only in Papua but also throughout Indonesia. So, it can be a souvenir for tourists who come to Papua.
Gedi Roll Festival
One of the real actions to introduce Gedi Rolls to more people is holding Gedi Roll Festival. The initiator of this agenda is Andreas Swewali. He hopes that this festival can introduce Gedi Rolls as Papua food.
He had this idea in 2020. However, most communities in Grime Valley do not give positive responses. However, in 2022 the local communities supported this festival. The local communities partner with the local government to succeed in this agenda.
Andreas hopes the Gedi Rolls festival can be as popular as other festivals in Papua, such as Sentani Lake Festival and Sago Worm Festival.
Through the Gedi Roll festival, Grime Nawa residents introduce this local dish to the visitors. They also invite the visitor to try this food. Besides, they also hope that Gedi Rolls can be sold in modern markets. Also, they hope that all restaurants and hotels in Jayapura offer this dish to their guests.
In order to improve the quality of Papua Gedi Rolls, the locals are willing to modify this dish to make it modern. This way, the taste of this food can be more delicious so that people outside Grime Valley can like it.
