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Slawi is the administrative centre of the Tegal Regency of the province of Central Java, Indonesia. Slawi is known for the production of a particularly fragrant black tea and the tea-drinking culture known as Moci.
Unusual for a tea-producing area, Slawi has a warm climate with a gentle sloping geography.
Slawi is located about 20 km south of Tegal on the central north coast of Java in Central Java province. It is bordered bythe Adiwerna (Banjaran) district to the north, the Pangkah district to the east, the Balapulang district to the south, and the Jatibarang district (located in the administrative area of Brebes Regency) to the west.
Slawi has a tropical monsoon climate (Am) with moderate rainfall from June to October and heavy to very heavy rainfall from November to May.
| Climate data for Slawi | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 30.3 (86.5) | 30.5 (86.9) | 31.3 (88.3) | 31.5 (88.7) | 31.7 (89.1) | 31.6 (88.9) | 31.2 (88.2) | 31.5 (88.7) | 32.1 (89.8) | 32.5 (90.5) | 32.1 (89.8) | 31.5 (88.7) | 31.5 (88.7) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 26.7 (80.1) | 26.8 (80.2) | 27.4 (81.3) | 27.5 (81.5) | 27.5 (81.5) | 27.1 (80.8) | 26.6 (79.9) | 26.6 (79.9) | 27.1 (80.8) | 27.7 (81.9) | 27.7 (81.9) | 27.5 (81.5) | 27.2 (80.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 23.2 (73.8) | 23.2 (73.8) | 23.5 (74.3) | 23.5 (74.3) | 23.4 (74.1) | 22.6 (72.7) | 22.1 (71.8) | 21.8 (71.2) | 22.2 (72.0) | 23.0 (73.4) | 23.4 (74.1) | 23.5 (74.3) | 23.0 (73.3) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 400 (15.7) | 335 (13.2) | 270 (10.6) | 147 (5.8) | 143 (5.6) | 87 (3.4) | 67 (2.6) | 55 (2.2) | 48 (1.9) | 88 (3.5) | 163 (6.4) | 286 (11.3) | 2,089 (82.2) |
| Source: Climate-Data.org [1] | |||||||||||||
The majority of citizens work as farmers, in the metal industry, the public service, or in a variety of home industries, including teak furniture-making and weaving sarongs.
As is generally the case with 'urbanisation', many young people leave the area after high school, heading for larger urban centres such as Jakarta, Bandung, and Semarang and some timber processing towns such as Banjarmasin and Balikpapan. In the last three decades, some have been working overseas in places such as the Middle East, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Their financial remittances are an important source of income for the area. The out-of-town family members would generally return to Slawi for the Moslem holidays of Idul Fitri as a tradition.
Local crafts include traditional forms of batik and metalworking, and Wayang Kulit puppet shows are also performed.
The local language of the area is Javanese, spoken with a distinctive regional accent.
The local cuisine lists among others, Tahu Aci, a fried tofu triangle with one side filled with cassava flour - represents the best vegetarian fried tofu among Asian cuisine. Sega Lengko, made of boiled and steamed rice adorned with fermented soybean cake pieces tempeh, tofu, soy-bean sprouts tauge, sand-fried peanuts, and some hand-crushed krupuk aci (cassava flour crackers), and/or krupuk udang (prawn crackers), fried shallots with mild chili peanut sauce over the top before serving. There is also a variety of chicken turmeric soup, Soto Tegal, and Sate Tegal. There are many local food stalls, called Warteg (Warung Tegal), which offer daily meals at affordable prices for all walks of life.
Tea drinking at the small or large eatery has a famous local term called Moci - literally tea drinking from one small clay teapot with one teacup for each person. It is the way to drink the locally produced fragrant jasmine black tea. The teapot is filled with a small paper bag the size of a matchbox full of jasmine tea and poured with slightly scalding hot water. The brewed tea is then poured into a clay teacup with rock sugar. The way the locals do is not to stir avoiding average sweetness, and drink while it is hot preferably with some slurping noise as well. Some will pour it on the saucer and slurp it with abandoned pleasure. The idea is to get to the last slurp or sip when it is sweetest and in this way encourage refill. It somewhat reflects the Malay pantun proverb, 'berakit-rakit ke hulu/berenang-renang ke tepian/ bersakit-sakit dahulu/bersenang-senang kemudian', meaning there is a satisfying end to a difficult beginning. Not to be mistaken with the way the Russians drink their tea, by holding the rock sugar between their teeth and sipping the tea.
Moci is frequently accompanied by Mendoan, a moist fermented soybean cake (tempe or tempeh) fried in wheat flour batter, often eaten with sambal ulek (oelek) or plain chilli paste or simply bite into one bird's eye chilli then bite a piece of the tempe. This is a favourite drink while enjoying the famous Sate Tegal, a sate of local goat meat.
There are several beaches within easy reach of Slawi, as well as Guci, an area of waterfalls, gardens, and public hot springs at the foot of Slamet Mountain, approximately 27 km south of Slawi. In addition, nearby Alun Alun Kabupaten Slawi is a garden with a large fountain that is popular on Sundays.
In the town itself, there are the old and new markets, the Singa and Rama theatres, as well as the historical Pankah Sugar Factory, and the 4th Slawi Primary School, both of which are part of the Dutch colonial legacy in the city.
Tempeh or tempe is a traditional Indonesian food made from fermented soybeans. It is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form. A fungus, Rhizopus oligosporus or Rhizopus oryzae, is used in the fermentation process and is also known as tempeh starter.
Indonesian cuisine is a collection of various regional culinary traditions that formed in the archipelagic nation of Indonesia. There are a wide variety of recipes and cuisines in part because Indonesia is composed of approximately 6,000 populated islands of the total 17,508 in the world's largest archipelago, with more than 1,300 ethnic groups.
Rijsttafel, a Dutch word that literally translates to "rice table", is an Indonesian elaborate meal adapted by the Dutch following the hidang presentation of nasi padang from the Padang region of West Sumatra. It consists of many side dishes served in small portions, accompanied by rice prepared in several different ways. Popular side dishes include egg rolls, sambals, satay, fish, fruit, vegetables, pickles, and nuts. In most areas where it is served, such as the Netherlands, and other areas of strong Dutch influence, it is known under its Dutch name.
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Tegal Regency is one of the regencies in the northwest part of Central Java province of Indonesia, with an area of 878.79 km2 (339.30 sq mi). The administrative center used to be in Tegal City, in the northwest corner of the regency, but then Tegal City was administratively separated from the regency and formed into its own territory. The city was later replaced as the administrative center of Tegal Regency by Slawi Town, which is a suburb about 20 km (12 mi) to the south of the city and within the district boundary. The regency had a population of 1,394,839 at the 2010 Census and 1,596,996 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 1,623,595.
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Gado-gado is an Indonesian salad of raw, slightly boiled, blanched or steamed vegetables and hard-boiled eggs, boiled potato, fried tofu and tempeh, and lontong, served with a peanut sauce dressing.
Fish crackers are deep fried crackers made from fish and spices, originating from Indonesia. The crackers are made mainly with tapioca flour and/or sago flour and then salt, sugar and MSG as seasonings. Fish crackers can be found throughout Southeast Asia and East Asia. However, they are more commonly found and of greater variety in Indonesia and Malaysia.
Prawn crackers are a deep-fried snack made from starch and prawn. They are a common snack food in Southeast Asian cuisine, but they are most closely associated with Indonesia. They have also been adapted into East Asian cuisines, where the similar Japanese kappa ebisen (かっぱえびせん) and Korean saeukkang are popular snacks.
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