Get to know Brem and Tuak Lombok Traditional Drinks
kicknews.today – Almost every region in Indonesia has a traditional drink containing alcohol. If in western culture is called wine, then in eastern culture or Asian culture is called tuak. In Indonesia itself, many types of tuak even have special designations.
Tuak or traditional alcoholic beverages have long been consumed since the time of the archipelago kingdom. Tuak became a special drink served at the royal meeting. Until now and very attached to the indigenous culture and traditions of the local community. In Lombok, besides tuak, brem is quite famous in the culture of the community.
Brem
This drink is commonly found in North Lombok Regency, an area inhabited by Hindu-Balinese communities. In addition to being a drink for personal needs, brem is also generally served in certain traditional ceremonies and religious rituals as a free dish. The journal Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge explained in a certain dose, people consume to maintain the warmth of the body and blood circulation.
Average alcohol consumption will increase hormone levels which are believed to help reduce blockages and blood clots, thus reducing the risk of heart disease. In addition to containing alcohol, the result of data conversion using Indonesian Food Consumption, brem is characterized by calcium, iron, energy, and carbohydrate content (Sukenti et al. Ethnobotany of Sasak Traditional Beverages as Functional Foods, 2019).
Brem is produced from fermented sticky rice. Contains alcohol, sugar reduction, CO2 gas, and a little organic acid. It usually tastes sour and sweet, red, with an alcohol content of 3-10%3, and can be produced from black or white rice. The first stage of fermentation produces sticky rice tape, which is further fermented for about 7 months and produces alcohol.
Sometimes katuk leaves are added during the steaming process to give a fragrant aroma until the brem green. Excessive consumption of brem can lead to hangovers, in which people will be out of control in speech, balance, and emotions, which may eventually lead to criminal acts.
Tuak
Tuak comes from water tapped from palm trees or sap. There are two kinds of tuak, sweet tuak arak and tuak toaq (old). Sweet tuak is water taken from the stalk of a tree without going through the fermentation process, while tuak toaq is fermented from sweet tuak, so it contains alcohol. Sweet tuak is widely produced in Pusuk Forest Area, West Lombok.
According to public belief, if sweet tuak consumed regularly can cure some diseases such as diabetes, constipation, stone urine, canker sores and can also neutralize toxins and maintain human health.
The process of water collection of sap trees is usually done in the dry season so that the quality of tuak is not affected by rainwater. Fresh tuak is directly harvested from the tree, then usually sold directly as a sweet tuak, or processed into brown sugar.
To add sweetness to the sweet tuak, sometimes the lever tap adds a piece of shredded wood, as a natural preservative to slow down the fermentation process in the nira tree.
To make tuak toaq, fresh lead water is mixed with bajur bark to ferment until it contains alcohol. Sweet tuak is superior in energy content, while tuak toaq is grouped with drinks containing protein and phosphorus.
Source: kicknews.today