Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – For Indonesian people who live in tropical areas, hot weather is not something strange. However, that does not apply to Europeans who come to Indonesia.
They are always hot and cannot withstand the strong rays of the tropical sun. On this basis, in 1845 one of the hotels in Batavia, called Hotel de Provence, sold ice cubes as one of its mainstay dishes every evening.
Undoubtedly, ice cubes will cool the body temperature of overheated people, whether native or European. Interestingly, the ice cubes served were not made in refrigerators or freezers like now.
At that time, refrigerators or refrigerators had not yet entered the Dutch East Indies. No one, whether native nobles or Europeans, owned these items.
Never mind ice cubes, people have never seen the form of ice. Only Papuans who live in the Jayawijaya Mountains have seen it. So, the only way to get ice cubes is to import.
Yes, you heard that right. Ice cubes became an imported commodity during the colonial period due to the lack of refrigeration machines. This was revealed by historian Achmad Sunjayadi in the book The Turning Point of Historiography in Indonesia (2008).
According to Sunjayadi, ice cubes are a special attraction for visitors to the Hotel de Provence Batavia. They enjoyed iced treats while watching musical performances. Hot body temperature suddenly turns cool.
The figure behind the import of ice cubes by the hotel which is now located in the Merdeka Palace complex is Etienne Chaulan. He was a pioneer in selling ice cubes in Batavia. Thanks to him hotels and many other people joined in buying ice cubes.
As explained by Denys Lombard in Nusa Java Cross Culture: Asian Network (2008), the presence of ice cubes in the Dutch East Indies came from Boston, United States. The ice is made using the principle of freezing water using salt and ammonia. When it is frozen, the ice is molded into blocks. Only when it arrived in the Dutch East Indies was the ice block broken up according to its function.
In a search by the CNBC Indonesia Research Team (March 1 2022), ice cubes in Batavia were priced at five cents per pound. It is a reasonable price. The reason is, according to Lombard, ice cubes are all about convenience.
With the presence of ice cubes, humans can not only reduce body temperature, but can also preserve food. Since then, importing ice cubes has become commonplace. However, due to its high price, only rich people can enjoy it.
It was only after the knowledge of making ice and its production equipment entered the Dutch East Indies that ice factories began to emerge. Initially it was only owned by Europeans. However, slowly Chinese people started producing their own ice cubes.
In the end, the emergence of the ice cube factory closed the tap on imports. After that, ice cubes became something that cannot be separated from serving food in hot weather.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
(mfa/mfa)
Originally posted 2023-10-10 10:30:00.