Indonesia has delicious food in many varieties. As coconut and banana trees are abundant, these ingredients make up a major part in the kitchen. Satay is a very popular dish, and can be made of chicken, pork, beef, prawns, fish or a mashed version of those (Satay Lilit). Even though we, tourists normally eat satay with peanut sauce, the Indonesians don't. The meat is already delicious by itself, as it is usually marinated, so the Indonesians serve it without sauce or just serve soy sauce with chili peppers. Coriander and cumin seeds are among the most popular spices. Fish is very often on the menu, but no meal comes without rice!
Influences are found from all over the world, from India, China (the use of noodles, tofu, bean sprouts and soy sauce), Middle East, Portugal, Spain (the use of chillies) and the Netherlands. Indonesia is spread out over many islands within a big area (the length is approximately 8,000 kilometers) and people with several religions and races live there, so the cuisine is very diverse, just as you will find in India and China for the same reason.
The soy sauce from the Chinese was sweetened and thickened into the now regular kecap manis. The Dutch, being colonials with loads of servants in those days, managed to expand the existing "rijsttafel" to a lengthy meal. We Dutch live in a small country and a small population, and therefore, the Dutch cuisine is limited in size. Some Dutch people even state, that there is no such thing as a Dutch cuisine, but of course I as worldcook must object to that though. But certainly, Indonesian cooking is extremely popular in the Netherlands and rijsttafel is still a lengthy and much enjoyed meal.