Gudeg, young jackfruit braised in coconut milk and spices, is a traditional Central Javanese dish. Unlike the other dishes in this book, Julia did not make gudeg at home. In fact, I had gudeg for the first time in Yogyakarta when I was eleven years old. I remember sitting on plastic mats on the ground. I remember a toothless old lady wearing a sarong kebaya and a tight bun on her head. And I remember that lingering first bite. When I was back in Yogya in the summer of 2022,