Sate Iboe Sarongan Tanah Djawa & Bali Activity - Bali Travel Guide

Overview

Satays are now popular all over the world. In the old days, every evening just

before 6 PM, the women of the village, young and old, would put on their colorful sarong and their kebaya top, put their satays in the basket they carried behind their back with a sling, and came down to the night markets or the village squares. Since there were so many of them (approx 10 village women), these women and their satays were then known and identified by the batik sarong (also known as ’sewek’) they wore. For these women, the satays portrayed their image and reputation. To get the attention of the customers, they yelled ”Sate Yam!!!!” (chicken satay!!) They also sang flirtatiously, so that their customers got hooked and only bought from them. The women of each village or each group were usually headed by a ’satay mafia boss’, normally the male main satay supplier, who lead them and supervise them in these markets or village squares, and count the number of satays sold at the end of the night.