Sujitno Sajuti is a graduate student in medical anthropology at the University of Connecticut. To help make ends meet, Dahlia teaches Indonesian cooking for the West Hartford and Mansfield adult-education programs. Sujitno teaches Indonesian. Despite the austerity of student life, visitors to the Sajutis' are always greeted with food. One day, a steaming bowl of sotomi, a souplike mix of sliced beef, rice noodles and greens, arrives unbidden, accompanied by a variety of deep-fried Indonesian snacks and a tall glass filled with a cool pink drink.
Dahlia says with a smile.
If you come, people will serve food,'' he says. Indonesia is a country of 13,600 islands, roughly half of which are inhabited. Each inhabited island has its own culinary tradition, shaped by climate and religious taboos. Dahlia was raised in Sumatra, the second biggest of Indonesia's major islands. Food there is hotter, spicier and saltier.