Scholarlink

<p>This ethno-gastronomic study examines how the sacred cooking of <i>ingkung</i>, a whole free-range chicken prepared for the <i>Nyadran</i> ritual, embodies moral discipline, ecological reciprocity, and ancestral reverence within a Javanese village community. Central to the ritual is a strict taboo prohibiting the tasting of the dish before it is offered and blessed at the ancestral grave. While <i>ingkung</i> in Javanese tradition is recognized as a symbol of gratitude and devotion, its preparation in the <i>Nyadran</i> context is grounded in specific protocols of purity, collective labor, and sensory discipline. The study draws on qualitative ethnography that includes field observation, interviews with women cooks and ritual leaders, and documentation of cooking and blessing practices. The findings show that preparing <i>ingkung</i> is not merely a culinary process but a moral and sensory practice of restraint, reverence for sacred order, and ecological attunement. The tasting taboo mediates the transformation of food from the ordinary to the sacred and culminates in communal redistribution during the blessing ceremony. Situating <i>ingkung</i> within wider debates on ethnic foodways, the moral economy, and Javanese cosmology, the study argues that such ritual food practices sustain intangible cultural heritage and reaffirm a sensory ecology of sacred taste.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

The Moral Economy of Untasted Food: Javanese Ingkung as Culinary Ethics and Sacred Ecology

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年3月6日

查看全文
  • Hafis Muaddab,
  • Khudrotun Nafisah

摘要

This ethno-gastronomic study examines how the sacred cooking of ingkung, a whole free-range chicken prepared for the Nyadran ritual, embodies moral discipline, ecological reciprocity, and ancestral reverence within a Javanese village community. Central to the ritual is a strict taboo prohibiting the tasting of the dish before it is offered and blessed at the ancestral grave. While ingkung in Javanese tradition is recognized as a symbol of gratitude and devotion, its preparation in the Nyadran context is grounded in specific protocols of purity, collective labor, and sensory discipline. The study draws on qualitative ethnography that includes field observation, interviews with women cooks and ritual leaders, and documentation of cooking and blessing practices. The findings show that preparing ingkung is not merely a culinary process but a moral and sensory practice of restraint, reverence for sacred order, and ecological attunement. The tasting taboo mediates the transformation of food from the ordinary to the sacred and culminates in communal redistribution during the blessing ceremony. Situating ingkung within wider debates on ethnic foodways, the moral economy, and Javanese cosmology, the study argues that such ritual food practices sustain intangible cultural heritage and reaffirm a sensory ecology of sacred taste.