Savory With A Bad Aftertaste When Eating Sago Caterpillars

While on assignment reporting on the Manawari Sago Forest in Sima village, Nabire regency, Papua, we were curious to try eating the sago caterpillars that are commonly consumed by the indigenous people.

KOMPAS/HARRY SUSILO

Residents chop sago in the Manawari Sago Forest, Sima village, Nabire regency, Papua province, Monday (26/4/2021). The Manawari Sago Forest is the remaining forest in Kampung Sima because other forests have turned into oil palm plantations.

Famous novelist from the United States, Jonathan Safran Noer, once said that food is not something rational, but a culture and habits that shape identity.

This phrase seems appropriate to describe the Papuan people. They consume sago as the main food when the majority of Indonesian people cannot be separated from rice.