Rijsttafel

Pronunciation

Origin

From Dutch rijsttafel ("rice table").

Full definition of rijsttafel

Noun

1. A large meal originating in Colonial Indonesia composed of many different dishes with rice as the main ingredient; several side-dishes such as Krupuk, and serundeng are served to make it a "rijsttafel".
• 1972 September 11, Gael Greene, "The Insatiable Critic: Ramayana east of Krakatoa", New York Magazine, vol. 5, issue 37 , p. 85:The famous rijsttafel, love-hate legacy of Dutch imperial days—at its most numbing brilliance it required 23 men and a boy to serve—...
• 1991 May, Guusje Moore, "Windmills and Rice", Vegetarian Times, issue 165, p. 28:I was born too late to experience a real Indonesian rijsttafel, but my mother used to tell me about these feasts.
• 2002, Edward D. Webster, A year of Sundays: taking the plunge (and our cat) to explore Europe, VanderWyk & Burnham, p. 85:The complete or the lesser rijsttafel? I bet they're both huge, ...
• 2007, George McDonald, Frommer's Amsterdam, Frommer's, p. 106:The basic concept of a rijsttafel is to eat a bit of this and a bit of that, blending flavors and textures.----