Batak cuisine

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Batak cuisine is the cuisine and cooking traditions of Batak ethnic groups, predominantly found in Northern Sumatra region, Indonesia. Batak cuisine is part of Indonesian cuisine, and compared to other Sumatran cuisine traditions, it is more indigenously preserved. One characteristic of Batak cuisine is its preference to andaliman (Zanthoxylum acanthopodium) as the main spice. That is why andaliman in Indonesia sometimes dubbed as "Batak pepper".^[1]

Batak people are majority Christian — unlike neighboring Muslim-majority ethnic groups such as Aceh and Minang — Christian Batak people are not restricted to Islamic halal dietary law.^[2] Many of the Batak's popular meals are made of pork as well as dishes made from unusual ingredients, such as dog meat or blood, however there are also halal batak dishes, mostly chicken, beef, lamb, mutton, and freshwater fishes.

Batak culinary centers are located in towns of Batak highlands, such as the town of Kabanjahe and Berastagi in Tanah Karo area. While some towns around the Lake Toba offers freshwater fish dishes such as carp arsik. The Northern Sumatra capital of Medan is also a Batak cuisine hotspot where numerous of Lapo (Batak eating establishments) can be found, yet the city is also a culinary center of halal Malay Deli, as well as Indian Cuisine and Chinese Indonesian cuisines. Outside its traditional lands in North Sumatra, Batak cuisine can also be found in Lapo in Jakarta, as well as most of the Indonesian major cities. Batak food is also widely present in Penang, Malaysia due to wide Batak migrant labour population found there.