The Birdwoman's Palate
Page 33
My gratitude to Pandu Riono, for his valuable contributions on epidemiology and avian flu; to culinary maestro William Wongso, whose knowledge of flavors and spices is second to none; and to Lisa Virgiano, whose dedication to this country’s cuisine never fails to inspire me.
To Wahyu Muryadi, for his contributions on Madura and places to eat in Bangkalan and Pamekasan; to Geumala Yatim, who took Maggy and me to some of the best restaurants in Banda Aceh; and to Nezar Patria, for telling me much about the culinary history of his ancestors.
To Zinnia Nizar-Sompie, that most gifted pastry chef, who’s done a beautiful job of designing my website and who has always been a great help to me; to Ara Nizar, who has also been very generous with her time and energy; and to Cecil Mariani, my loyal eating companion, for being her amazing self and for her ceaseless good spirits.
To Katarina Monika, Christa Linggar, and Michael Chrisyanto at SOSJ for giving me such a gorgeous first book cover; to Nic Schaeffer for his invaluable artistic touch; and to Barata Dwiputra for the eye-catching illustration of the iconic chicken noodle (mi ayam) bowl.
To Siti Gretiani, my awe-inspiring Indonesian publisher, for her support, guidance, and acuity; to Hetih Rusli, who has graciously helped perfect this novel; and to my friends at Gramedia Pustaka Utama, especially Dionisius Wisnu, for all their support and help.
To my translator, Tiffany Tsao, for her grace, meticulousness, and all in all brilliance. For breathing new life into this novel. And for her patience and friendship, which mean a lot to me.
To the soulful Gabriella Page-Fort of AmazonCrossing, for her friendship, support, and continued faith in me. And, as ever, to Kirby Kim, my agent at Janklow and Nesbit, for finding my books a place in this world.
To Winny Roesad, for her friendship and generosity, and to various friends for love and companionship and food, at home and abroad, especially Nesya and Marvin Suwarso, Peter Milne, Winfred Hutabarat, Yenni Kwok, Amrih Widodo, Inez Nimpuno, Maya Kono, Monica Tanuhandaru, Lauren Hardie, Avi Mahaningtyas, Poppy Barkah, Dael Allison, Wim Manuhutu, Maya Liem, Willemijn Lamp, Sylvia Dornseiffer, Irfan Kortschak, Kadek Krishna Adidharma, Sarita Newson, Tash Aw, Aamer Hussein, Margaret Scott, Katrin Sohns, Amit Khanna, and Ken Chen. To Anthony, especially, for supplying me with books, films, and music and for making me smile.
To my parents, who taught me how to eat; and to Sachiroh, for twenty-two years of love, support, and protection. To Isabella “Belly” Queen of Spain, my loyal writing companion for thirteen years and the world’s most beautiful cat. My deepest love and thanks to Nadia Larasati Djohan, precious daughter, best friend, and ultimate dining companion—and recently, a frighteningly competent literary advisor to her mother.
Last and foremost, to the two incredible women who have accompanied me on my travels, Ening Nurjanah and Maggy Horhoruw. I love you gals.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Laksmi Pamuntjak is an award-winning Indonesian novelist, poet, food writer, and journalist. Her debut novel, Amba, won Germany’s LiBeraturpreis, was short-listed for the 2012 Khatulistiwa Literary Award, and appeared on the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung’s Top 8 list of the best books of the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2015. She is also the author of two collections of poetry and five editions of the bestselling and award-winning Jakarta Good Food Guide, and she has served as translator for Indonesian poet and essayist Goenawan Mohamad.
Cofounder of Jakarta’s Aksara Bookstore, Pamuntjak was selected as the Indonesian representative for Poetry Parnassus at the 2012 London Olympics. She currently divides her time between Berlin and Jakarta. Visit the author at www.laksmipamuntjak.com.
ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR
Photo © 2015 Leah Diprose
Tiffany Tsao is a writer, translator, and literary critic. She spent her formative years in Singapore and Indonesia before moving to the United States, where she received a PhD in English from the University of California, Berkeley. She currently resides in Sydney, Australia. Her translations of Indonesian short stories, poetry, and essays have been featured in Asymptote, LONTAR, Cordite Poetry Review, Asia Literary Review, and the anthology BooksActually’s Gold Standard 2016. Her translation of Dee Lestari’s novel Paper Boats was published in 2017 by AmazonCrossing, and her translation of Eka Kurniawan’s short story “Caronang” was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Her debut novel, The Oddfits, was published in 2016.