The success of Mercado Culinário Indonésio or the Indonesian Culinary Market in June 2022 made the Indonesian Embassy in Lisbon to organize Mercado Culinário Indonésio for the second time. This activity was held in October 2022. This event was held in the middle of autumn in Portugal and to fulfill the longing of the Indonesian diasporas, and the Portuguese community for Indonesian cuisine. This event aims to promote the richness of Indonesian culinary and products in Portugal.
This activity is in accordance with the mission of Indonesian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Portugal, Mr. Rudy Alfonso to promote a positive image of Indonesia. He was happy that many Portuguese people like Indonesian cuisine. He hopes that more Indonesian diasporas will open restaurants in Portugal.
Around 500 people flocked to the backyard of the Indonesian Embassy in Lisbon and were busy to choose Indonesian snacks. There were about 40 types of food sold, ranging from the favourite menu of chicken satay, fried rice, fried noodles, meatballs, chicken porridge, rendang, siomay, yellow rice, woku chicken, various spring rolls, to various fried foods and market snacks.
Besides serving culinary, the Indonesian Embassy in Lisbon accepted the participation of the Travelutions travel agency stand, which provided tour packages to Indonesia. In addition, Emirates as one of the international airlines that has flight routes (with one transit) from Lisbon - Jakarta and Lisbon - Bali, also participates in Mercado Culinário Indonésio.
If visitors want to try Indonesian reflexology, they can also enjoy massage services at the Swans Spa & Message stand for ten minutes.
This event is also a cultural promotion, such as traditional music and dance. One of the music performed was the song 'Indonesia Pusaka', sung by João Oliveira, an alumni of the BSBI scholarship and a participant in the Indonesian language class organized by the Indonesian Embassy. In addition, visitors were also entertained by the strains of the Balinese Gender tone game by Vanessa, an alumnus of Darmasiswa ISI Denpasar.
Seeing the interest from visitors, which even increased in number compared to the previous Mercado event, the Indonesian Embassy is optimistic that Mercado Culinário Indonésio will be well received by the people in Portugal.