Ampo - very tasty land (8 photos)

The world is full of strange and even dangerous dishes such as insects, poisonous or rotten fish or live mice. But at least these are edible things. Meanwhile, there is a place on the planet whose inhabitants have elevated a completely inedible substance to the rank of a delicacy.





These are the local people of the Indonesian village of Taban, who take great pleasure in cooking and eating the land. Not quite ordinary: only soil from local rice fields is sent to the kitchen. It is first thoroughly cleaned of stones and debris. And then the magic begins.



The prepared soil is carefully beaten with a stick to a uniform, flat layer approximately the thickness of a sheet of cardboard. Then the leaf is cut into equal strips, rolled into tubes that look like cinnamon, and baked in pots or smoked until tender. Depending on the purpose, cooking time can vary from 30 minutes to one and a half hours.







Not everyone makes ampo, but only one family in the village. The secrets of preparing a specific delicacy are passed down from generation to generation. Now a woman named Rasima is in charge. She sells the dish at the local market.

And it is in consistently high demand at a fairly respectable price for an Indonesian village (Rasima replenishes her budget by about $2 per day in this way).





Fellow villagers are happy to buy earthen “pretzels” because they believe in their miraculous power. According to Indonesians, ampo has a pronounced analgesic effect. The delicacy is also highly recommended for pregnant women: it has a positive effect on the skin of the fetus, and the baby is born very beautiful.



According to reviews from extreme gourmets, clay curls taste quite pleasant. Flavors always vary and depend, according to Rasima, on the degree of purification of the source material.



Would you dare try this food?