Brilio.net/en - Kampong Wijilan or Wijilan Village, located in the east of Yogyakarta palaces north square, is popular among locals and tourists alike for being the center of Gudeg, Yogyakartas traditional dish.
Walk along Wijilan Street and you will find rows and rows of gudeg stalls, where most customers are already regulars at their favorite stalls.
Once known as jeron beteng, the village is part of Yogyakartas sprawling sultanate palace, which earned its reputation for serving mouth-watering Gudeg from families of servants who used to cook the dish for Royals. Gudeg is one of traditional dishes for royal families so the abdi dalems wives were skilled in making the dish, said Susantri, a Gudeg seller in the village to brilio.net/en, Thursday (27/8).
The existence of this village even dates back prior to Indonesias declaration of independence. In 1942, a woman named Mrs. Slamet opened a Gudeg restaurant for the first time in the complex. The restaurant received a favorable response from society, following which; other Gudeg stalls began to set up shop. Other famous stalls include Bu Djuwariahs Gudeg stall which is also known as Gudeg Yu Djum.
But business has not always been booming for Gudeg stalls in the village. In 1980, Campur Sari Gudeg shut shop. In fact, it took a long 13-year period to get the stalls up, running, and popular. It was only in 1993 that business truly began to flourish, and tourists who visited Yogyakarta flocked to the village in droves to get a bite of the sweet-and-savory-tasting food.
Increasing customer demand then compelled sellers to innovate, leading to the creation of a dry version of the dish, one that sellers were able to put in a can and store over longer periods of time. Today, visitors can not only eat the famed dish at Wijilan village, but they can also take it home with them.
Those looking to sample a taste can get to the village after a 15-minute ride from the city centre by riding a becak (pedicab) or an andong (horse-drawn carriage). If youve got plans to visit Yogyakarta, do stop by Wijilan village for a taste.