Seafood of java sea: gebang mekar tourism village as a case study for culinary destination in coastal area of cirebon west java

Abstract

The vast Indonesian sea provides abundant marine resources such as seafood. In addition to it, Indonesia also has an enormous coastline that can be utilized for tourism activities. Java sea in north Java Island has become a source of fishermen in Indonesia since 15 centuries, Gebang Mekar Village located in Cirebon, the northern part of Java Island has been stated by the local government to become a pioneered tourist destination for marine tour cultural activities and also for its culinary delicacy especially for seafood dishes. This study aims to analyze the potency of Gebang Mekar and its relations with Cirebon culture, and also having foodscape analysis finding how local the component of ingredients in its recipe. This study finds that Gebang Mekar has many kinds of seafood, especially for crabs, shrimps, squids, and seashells. And it suits with Cirebon local seafood recipe that has more than 16 seafood recipes. We trace the ingredient from the local recipe and analyze the foodscape and finds that most of the ingredients come from the local Cirebon and neighboring regions inside West Java. Only one ingredient (garlic) that to fulfill the quantity needs, should be imported from China. To support Gebang Mekar as a seafood culinary tourism destination there still plenty of tasks to do, such as local people empowerment by giving them some workshops in seafood restaurant management.