LEILA FADEL, HOST:
From California to Queens, New York, where nearly half the residents come from other countries. One international community there meets every month in a church hall to celebrate their culture. Reporter Jeff Lunden went to the New York Indonesian Food Bazaar to check it out.
JEFF LUNDEN: The church hall in Elmhurst is lined with tables offering various delicacies on the sides of the space and picnic tables in the center filled with people eating those delicacies. Tutik Sumarmi is a tiny woman in a hijab. She's been selling sweet treats and banana leaves, all types of fritters and skewers since the bazaar began 14 years ago.
TUTIK SUMARMI: I like to meet a friend, new people, and I can promote Indonesian food, and I make money (laughter), right?
LUNDEN: Promoting Indonesian food is one of the reasons Fefe Anggono, an immigrant from Surabaya, founded the bazaar. It's part of a nonprofit organization called Indonesian Culinary Enthusiasts.
FEFE ANGGONO: We try to introduce the culinary to non-Indonesian people.
LUNDEN: There are approximately 10,000 Indonesian immigrants across the New York area, and many come to grab a taste of home. But the bazaar attracts many non-Indonesian people who are just looking to try food they can't get anywhere else. Steven Raga, the local New York assembly member for the district, showed up looking for his favorite drink made of cantaloupe and watermelon.
STEVEN RAGA: There's such a concentration of diversity here in the Jackson Heights, Woodside, Elmhurst area. No. 1, it means there's good food everywhere you go. No. 2, you can see that there's different cultures that are not just celebrating their culture and heritage every day, but also just teaching it to a new generation.
LUNDEN: Pauline Liao immigrated when she was 2 years old.
PAULINE LIAO: I was born in Jakarta, and I would go back growing up every few years. And I don't know, around here, there's not really a lot of Indonesian food. So when I found this on Instagram, I was really delighted.
LUNDEN: Liao had several bags of food to take home. She says it's hard to get ingredients to make authentic Indonesian cuisine. There was one thing she was on the hunt for.
LIAO: Oh, I love the desserts.
LUNDEN: Yeah?
LIAO: And for me, all the desserts, I love.
LUNDEN: Including a particular honeycomb cake from Sumatra, which I tried. It had a spongy texture and was not too sweet. Like most of the food I ate at the New York Indonesian Food Bazaar, it was delicious.
For NPR News, I'm Jeff Lunden in Elmhurst, Queens, New York.
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