Lalab: Sundanese Raw Food and Salads That Still Exist
The simplest lifestyle seen from the things that are most frequent, the easiest and most routinely done, especially if not eating.
source of pic : wikipedia (lalab)
Because if we recall the 2000 Elementary School (in Indonesia for sundanese ethnic) subjects, there were natural sciences (natural sciences) or life sciences subjects which explained the characteristics of living things, namely: breathing, eating, and moving.
Thus, the act of eating has its own complexities starting from the price, the type or commodity, the processing, and even the way to enjoy it. Sundanese people who live in West Java or who migrate and have a typical Sundanese rice stall certainly serve all kinds of impromptu dishes, and what is their trademark is Lalab (lalapan, lalaban).
Raw Food (Rawism, Raw Foodism, Raw Food) is simply the consumption of raw food to get micro-nutrients either from sources of vitamins and minerals such as fruits and vegetables, or from vegetable and animal proteins.
According to the Sundanese people themselves Raw Food, if you define raw food, yes, of course the answer is Lalab, because only the lalab has been cleaned, sorted, and ready to be served and ready to eat along with other side dishes as a complement to the menu.
Examples of Sundanese dishes which of course are accompanied by fresh vegetables are: Grilled Fish, Grilled Chicken (indeed, the reverse word should be grilled chicken or grilled fish, that's the menu that is often found when stopping at a Sundanese hut or rice shop).
The lalab served varies, such as: cucumber, tespong leaves, pohpohan, kenikir, surawung (basil), green beans, eggplant, turmeric, leunca, lettuce, god leaves, antanan, jaat, kahitutan leaves, long beans, sintrong, cikur (kencur) , and many more according to the location where the Sundanese live, because the natural resources for lalab are, if not from the yards of the Sundanese, from their local markets.
The Origin of Lalab
source of pic : bukalapak.com
Indeed, it is not that detailed to state that lalab is a characteristic of food commodities commonly consumed by Sundanese people, but Sanghyang Siksa Kandang Karesian is a didactic text, which provides content about reading rules, recipes, and religious and moralistic lessons for Sundanese people.
According to Digital Historia Magazine, Sanghyang Siksa Kandang Karesian is a Guide to the Sundanese Society, and indeed the dissemination of information from time to time (Sundanese elders) has always been passed down from mouth to mouth using tales or stories and it has been passed down from generation to generation, and very little has been written for a documentation, so that artifacts are minimal. However, it can be traced from ancient manuscripts in circulation.
Lalab itself is indeed included in the recipe segment from the tutuwuhan (plants) section which is indeed suggested to be close to Sundanese settlements, therefore there are yards for Sundanese people whose contents are food sources, it is not surprising that lalab dishes will always be served. And if it is categorized as a type of raw food diet, it has indeed been since the 16th century since the Kingdom of Sunda Existed that various plant sources of food became a source of consumption other than animal (meat).
What is your favorite lalab when enjoying a typical Sundanese menu?