The organizers of a celebratory feast coinciding with the Sail Banda maritime festival in Maluku are attempting to make history by serving a world record number of fish dishes all at once.
The national Makang Patita communal food feast will present 2,010 different fish recipes on Sunday.
The organizers have called on the Indonesian Record Museum to witness the event.
As the organizers laid out preparations for the endeavour, 45 yachts competing in a yacht race that kicked off in Darwin, Australia, last Friday, arrived in Banda Neira, 132 kilometers southeast of Ambon, the capital of Maluku.
The Sail Banda festival will reach its climax on Aug. 3 when President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono arrives to declare Maluku as the nation’s fish center.
Ambon Deputy Mayor Olivia Latuconsina said the food festival represented the public’s contribution to Sail Banda.
Makang Patita is a traditional communal feast that typically accompanies ceremonies or parties in Maluku.
“The Makang Patita is part of the public’s direct involvement in making the Sail Banda event a success as well as showing the world the local wisdom of our region,” Latuconsina told The Jakarta Post in Ambon on Friday.
The feast of 2,010 fish recipes will be arranged by the Ambon City Family Welfare Movement in coordination with its district chapters.
Suryadi Sabirin, chairman of the feast organizing committee, said his team would distribute 25 kinds of fish to the movement’s members.
The food festival will span from the state treasury building in Ambon to Trikora Monument, and every subdistrict in the province will set up its own stand to present their unique dishes.
The event will run from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m. local time. The records museum will announce whether the feat is successful at 2 p.m.
The Maluku Food Reliance Agency said Maluku was ready to break the record.
“The feat is being carried out to show that Maluku is ready to become the national fish center. The effort will not only break the national record but also the world record and can be listed in the Guinness Book of World Records,” Sabirin said.
He said the national record museum’s certificate would be presented to Maluku Governor Karel Albert Ralahalu on Aug. 3.
Meanwhile, Maluku Police office have heightened security ahead President’s arrival, dispatching 263 officers to several hotels in Ambon.
Harold Huwae, police deputy chief, said that 1,500 personnel would be involved in ensuring the President’s security.
“The personnel will be assigned to strategic sites, including Patti-mura airport, sea ports and hotels,” he said.
The National Makang Patita communal food feast will present 2,010 different fish recipes on Sunday.
