Peuyeum: fermented cassava from Bandung, West Java, Indonesia

Abstract

Peuyeum is a fermented cassava product from Indonesia. Peuyeum or cassava tapay is known as “Peuyeum Bandung,” whose name refers to a provincial capital in West Java, Java Island. Peuyeum is processed through fermentation and uses starter cultures in the form of yeast tapay. The word peuyeum comes from “meuyeum” or “memeram,” which in Sundanese—the native language of West Java—means an incubation. This is because the process to make it requires curing time for ripening. The cassava is peeled, cleaned, and boiled to soften the tissue, then the starter is added and incubated for a certain time. The skill of making peuyeum is a generational one, passed down so that this traditional food is still preserved, even though it has become the local specialty of West Java. Derivative products are now increasingly diverse, which are fried tapay, colenak (grilled peuyeum served with a mixture of brown sugar and coconut shavings), mixed fruit ice, peuyeum cake, and others. In fact, for all the abovementioned cuisines, it can be said that fermentation was applied in producing the various traditional food items. Philosophically, peuyeum represents societies, group solidarity, peace of mind, and language symbolism. Thus, this paper discusses the history, philosophy, process, and derivative products of peuyeum.