Indonesia

Haryanto's Season and the Spice Islands

Indonesia's place in Formula 1 rests on Rio Haryanto's 2016 season, while its food spans thousands of islands, hundreds of peoples and a famous pantry of spices.

Indonesia has never hosted a World Championship race, and its Formula 1 story belongs to one man. In 2016 Rio Haryanto became the only Indonesian in our records to start a Grand Prix, making 12 starts that year for MRT with Mercedes power, with fifteenth his best finish.

No Indonesian team appears in our records, so that single season stands as the country's whole contribution to the championship so far. It is a modest entry. The kitchen, by contrast, is anything but modest.

Indonesian cooking gathers the regional traditions of a nation with thousands of populated islands and more than 600 ethnic groups. Sumatra cooks curried meats and vegetables touched by India and the Middle East, Java's food is largely indigenous with a few Chinese accents, and the eastern islands cook in ways that resemble Polynesia and Melanesia. The Moluccas, the original Spice Islands, gave the world cloves and nutmeg, which leaves a good part of every spice rack in their debt. Flavors are rich, savory and often hot, built on spice pastes called bumbu, and a bowl of sambal sits on nearly every table.

Rice is the heart of the meal. At home, steamed rice goes in the middle and everyone helps themselves from shared dishes of vegetables, fish or meat, crackers and sambal, mixing them freely on one plate. Soy foods such as tofu and tempeh, a Javanese invention, are everyday protein. For a race weekend, nasi goreng with a few skewers of satay makes a fine Indonesian start.

A taste of Indonesia

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