Every province in Indonesia has its unique food, including West Papua. Petatas is one of the traditional foods from that province.
Even though the name is “petatas”, it is one of the well-known foods you call sweet potatoes. So, eating petatas must be done for sweet potato lovers if you ever visit the province one day.
Staple Foods in West Papua
Indonesia is well-known for rice as its staple food. If you haven’t eaten rice, that means you haven’t eaten it yet, despite the big portion of food that you may have consumed.
Well, it is different in that province. The people there eat petatas as a staple food because rice doesn’t grow well, and the price of the staple food is quite high. Because of that fact, the people who live in the mountains rely on petatas instead of rice as their energy source (carbohydrates).
The fact is, 100 grams of petatas contain 86 calories and 20,12 grams of carbohydrates, while 100 grams of rice contains 129 calories and 27,9 carbohydrates. So, no wonder petatas can act as a substitute for rice as staple food there. The calorie and carbohydrates difference is not too high.
There are also more nutrients in petatas, such as fats, proteins, fibers, sodium, and potassium. One hundred grams of petatas have more potassium and fibers than 100 grams of rice.
Petatas is Used in Rituals
Petatas have been used as a staple food and for ritual purposes, proving that this root vegetable has a versatile usage.
This ritual begins with the submission of a pig as an offering by the respective tribal group. After that, some people will dance, and the others will prepare the stones and woods.
Initially, the stones will be piled up in such a way. After that, they will be burned until they become hot stones.
After the stones are hot enough, the next process of the ritual is to cook the porks. The man will be assigned to dig a deep hole. The hot stones will be put there along with a base and banana leaves. The purpose of base and banana leaves is to block the hot steam on the stone from dissipating and evaporating.
Petatas, along with vegetables and porks, are always present in an event called “Bakar Batu” in the Dani tribe. Since porks are prohibited in Islam, the Muslims in the Dani tribe change the pork with chicken meats.
All of the foods, including petatas, pork, chicken meat, and vegetables, are cooked together with the “Bakar Batu” method. It is natural and healthy. The stones are burned till they are red hot, which ripens the food ingredients.
The interesting fact about the ritual is there are beliefs that if the pigs die immediately after being shot with an arrow, this means that the event will be successful. Whereas, if the pig didn’t die instantly, they believe the event would have a high chance of failing.
The ritual creates togetherness because after the food is cooked, everyone will gather with their respective group and start eating together with joy.
Nowadays, the “Bakar Batu” ritual is not only performed during the birthday celebration but also to welcome important guest that visits West Papua.
Petatas Benefit for Health
There are reasons why petatas can act as a substitute for rice as a staple food. Besides that, here are the benefits of petatas.
1. Lowering Blood Pressure
Petatas contain antioxidant that will lower blood pressure. Peter Rohdewald, Ph.D., retired professor of pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of Münster in Germany, says that antioxidants affect the endothelium, the deepest part of the arterial blood vessel in humans that expands and contracts in response to the blood flow.
2. Great for Gut
As mentioned before, petatas have a good amount of fiber and antioxidants. Because of that, they will benefit your gut’s health.
There are soluble and insoluble fibers that can be fermented by bacteria in the colon. It will create a compound called fatty acids to keep your intestine’s cells healthy.
The antioxidant in the petatas also helps your gut by promoting the growth of good bacteria in the gut, such as Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus species. More good bacteria means the gut will be healthier.
3. Fighting Cancer
Because of the antioxidant, petatas can be used to protect people from certain types of cancer.
Anthocyanins, antioxidants in petatas/sweet potatoes, slow the growth of some cancer cells in test-tube studies. That includes the breast, colon, stomach, and bladder.
Keep in mind that the research’s results have only been on mice, not on a human yet.
4. Enhance Brain’s Function
Once again, antioxidants play an important role here.
In animal studies, anthocyanins protect the brain by reducing inflammation and preventing the radical changes, which are antioxidant functions.
A rich diet of antioxidants is also associated with a lower risk of dementia or mental health problem.
Petatas is the Pride of West Papua
From the versatility of the usage of staple food and ritual—not to mention its health benefits, there is without a doubt that petatas is worthy enough to be called the pride of West Papua.
If you want to visit West Papua one day, make sure you don’t miss the food!
