Vegetable Seller and Buyer

A traveling/mobile vegetable seller and a buyer in the neighbourhood where I live in West Bandung.

A traveling vegetable seller like this usually walks door to door and touts his merchandise. A buyer who thinks she/he needs the merchandise touted would come out of their house, stop him, and bargain before the transaction is made. Many kinds of merchandise and services are sold in this way in my neighbourhood.

Andir Night Market

Pasar Andir (Andir Market) is one of Bandung's central wet or traditional markets. It's located on Andir street in the city center. Its busiest operating time is at night from about 9 p.m to about 4 a.m.

Various kinds of fresh meat, fish, vegetables and fruits are brought here from the farms in the countrysides and towns adjacent to Bandung. Traders and resellers from the smaller markets and hotel and restaurant caterers come here to pick their supplies.



Over the years the Andir market has grown beyond its original boundaries and for some years now it has spilled onto the adjacent streets. As you can see in these pictures, the farmers even use the body of streets to offer their produce. Fortunately, the market's peak hours only take place at night and are usually over before 5 in the morning so they do not add more snarl to the already congested traffic in the city center.

Today's photos are contributed by Agus Wahyudi - a photographer friend of mine, an employee of PT. Pos Indonesia (Indonesian Postal Company) and a freelance photographer. Pak Agus (that's how I call him) has agreed from now on to become one of Bandung Daily Photo's regular contributors. Thanks, Pak Agus.

"Nyiru" and "Leunca"

Yes, I'm still at the traditional market where these vegies are sold.

You may be familiar with some of the things in the picture as they are quite universal: tomatoes, carrots, shallots, cauliflower, red chilly, and red beans are "world class" vegetables. But some of the things in the picture are local and may not be familiar to you.

Yes, the first one are those large bamboo trays. I think they may only be found in east or southeast Asia. We - Sundanese - call it "nyiru". Javanese and Indonesian would call it "tampah". There is no English translation for it, I don't think so.

Before the age of plastics, we had a lot of tools, baskets, containers, and vessels made of bamboo, which are availble in abundance here. Now some of those things have been replaced by environmentally-hostile plastics. Sigh.

Next are those green, bean-like vegetable in the front center "nyiru". Many of us love it and call it "leunca". Some reliable internet sources say that its Latin name is solanum nigrum L.

However, Solanum nigrum L is considered poisonous in North America and some other places. On the contrary, "leunca" is considered (and has been proven by some research at some Indonesian universities) to have some medicinal properties, including that of aphrodisiac.

Regardless of what science says, we have eaten it for ages. Not only is it delicious (if you know how to cook it like we do), but also good for our health.

local produce

These vegetables sold at Pasar Baru traditional market in the city center are locally produced.

More than 90 percent of our vegetables are locally produced in the valleys and mountains sorrounding the city. They are sold in the local markets as well as for exports to other cities like Jakarta.

Vegetable markets here begin at midnight when farmers transport their produce to Pasar Induk (lit. mother market; traditional markets that function as distribution centers). I took this photo at about mid-day when most of the vegies have already been sold out.

Labu Siam, Jipang

A relative of the cucumber, melon, and squash of the cucurbitaceae family, labu siam or jipang (sechium edule) as it is called locally is a very popular vegetable here.

This vegetable was reportedly brought to Indonesia by the Ductch from Thailand, and hence its name "labu siam" (Siamese pumpkin/gourd).

Labu siam/jipang is the fruit of a vine plant. The size of the fruit is about 10 to 20 centimeters. It grows in many parts of the world and is called with different names. In English it is generally called chayote, cho-cho, mirliton, or vegetable pear. In French, it is called christophine. What is it called in your language?