Ethnobiological study of Hare, a traditional food in the Parmalim community, North Sumatra, Indonesia

Abstract

Abstract. Amrul HMZN, Pasaribu N, Harahap RH, Aththorick TA. 2022. Ethnobiological study of Hare, a traditional food in the Parmalim community, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 23: 6082-6088. Indonesia has a variety of traditional foods that come from different social and cultural communities. One of the tribes in North Sumatra is the Batak. In the Toba Batak community, there is a belief or religion system called Parmalim. The Parmalim community is one of the indigenous faiths in Batak, which has grown and developed over time and is embraced by the Batak. The existence of traditional food known as Hare is one of the community's traditions. The purpose of this study is to describe how Hare was made, the ingredients included, and the nature of the benefits through an ethnobotanical study. The traditional botanical knowledge was traced through a series of field observations and semi-structured interviews with eight respondents from the religious officials and experts in Parmalim using a purposive sampling technique. Based on the interviews, Hare was prepared from herbs, honey, buffalo milk, and chicken eggs. The total ingredients used in making hare were 16 ingredients consisting of 13 species of plants and three species of animals. Hare is prepared from cultivated plants such as Cocos nucifera, Citrullus lanatus, Cucumis sativus, Artocarpus heterophyllus, Musa acuminata, Oryza sativa, Kaempferia galanga, and Curcuma domestica Valeton) and wild plants such as Saurauia bracteosa, Neptunia oleracea, Desmodium adscendens, Hibiscus mutabilis, and Chrysophyllum roxburghii. At first, hare is thought to be a nutritious diet and a pregnancy stimulant for young pregnant women. Recently, the traditional dish must be preserved, one of which is by promoting this dish on the cultural and formal agenda at Toba District, North Sumatra.