Rendang

This dish is from the district in West Central Sumatra known as Minangkabau.

Minangkabau means ‘Victorious Buffalo’, and indeed the people of the area eat buffalo meat more often than beef, for cows are scarce. Buffalo meat is delicious but very tough, so Rendang is cooked for an unusually long time. Once cooked, it will keep, in an airtight jar, for up to a month, even in a tropical climate. But buffalo meat, apart from being tough, is hard to come by in most western countries, and