Author: Martina Rahmadani (Southern-Eastern Sulawesi Seascape Responsible Marine Business Officer WWWF-Indonesia)

Culinary richness is one of the potential assets that can be developed into a tourist attraction. Previously, in November 2014 WWF-Indonesia organized the Liwuto Pasi Expedition (Read also Liwuto Pasi: An Artists' Expedition to Wakatobi) to see the potential of tourism that can be developed in Wakatobi, culinary wealth is one of the things that comes to the fore. Local food ingredients that are processed into typical culinary delights are projected to attract travelers who come. Seeing this, WWF-Indonesia Southern-Eastern Sulawesi Seascape Program through the Responsible Marine Tourism Program in collaboration with the Wakatobi National Park, and the local Tourism Office launched a responsible marine tourism program. One form of activity is culinary training aimed at communities and household businesses in order to improve their ability to process and serve local culinary. From this training, it is hoped that Wakatobi will be able to develop and be known not only for its underwater beauty but also for its appetizing culinary tours. Participants who attended this activity amounted to 46 people from all islands in Wakatobi, ranging from community members who have homestay businesses to restaurant operators.

The activity which was held for five consecutive days starting from March 7 to 11, 2016 at Taman Budaya Wakatobi was guided by two culinary experts and one academic in the field of tourism. They are Chef Anton, Chef Lisa Virgiano, and Mr. Kertajadi. Chef Anton is a food and beverage manager at a five-star hotel in Mataram. Chef Lisa is a gastronomist who has received several prestigious awards, such as Woman of Worth from L'Oreal Paris Indonesia. Previously, Chef Lisa also participated in the Liwuto Pasi Expedition organized by WWF-Indonesia and played a role in exploring information about the richness of local food in Wakatobi. Meanwhile, Mr. Kertajadi is an academic and actor in the tourism sector and has helped a lot in Lombok tourism planning and development. In their material, they provide and review very interesting information about the diversity of local food and Wakatobi cuisine which has an interesting history to tell to culinary connoisseurs.

The mainstay of Wakatobi's local food is fresh seafood caught in an environmentally friendly way, 23 types of local sweet potatoes, local corn and abundant coconuts. All of these food potentials can be processed into typical Wakatobi food with good taste. Some types of culinary specialties processed from local Wakatobi food include Kasuami, Jojolo Corn, Red Snapper Parende, and Haloa Sira Grilled Fish.

Through this training, participants not only cook existing specialties but also learn to customize existing ingredients into new innovative culinary delights. Some of them are fish head curry, loser chicken, corn jojolo pudding. Not to forget the processed cold drinks made using 100% young coconut water coupled with various local fruits in Wakatobi to add flavor. The menu created by the trainees can later be enjoyed by visitors while on vacation, while experiencing marine tourism in Wakatobi.

After this training, it is expected that there will be wider promotional efforts by the government and other stakeholders. Local culinary can be used as one of the packages that will be developed by the tourism community in Wakatobi for tourists to enjoy. Not only that, tourists can also learn to cook typical Wakatobi dishes.