In the traditional Betawi wedding ceremony, it’s mandatory for the prospective groom to bring roti buaya (crocodile-shaped breads) to the prospective bride as a symbol of everlasting love and marital fidelity. The existence of this symbol was influenced by Batavia’s topography and European culture.
The Europeans who settled in Batavia (Jakarta) undoubtedly influenced the local culture, including how feelings of love and affection were expressed by giving flowers. This European tradition was then adapted to Betawi culture: instead of giving flowers, they began offering a pair of “crocodiles” as a symbol of their feelings and commitment to their partners.
Betawi people’s cultural connection with crocodiles highlights how their environment and landscape of nature influenced their beliefs and values. At that time, Jakarta was swampy and surrounded by 13 rivers, in which many crocodiles lived. Living close these rivers and swamps, and thus these crocodiles, local inhabitants took inspiration from their reptilian neighbours, in particular their monogamous relationships and protective nature. As such, these characteristics were thus adopted into symbols of loyalty and devotion.
Not wanting to be outdone by their colonial counterparts, the Betawi residents baked hard bread — the staple food of Europeans—into the shapes of crocodiles, which evolved to become the symbolic gifts presented to prospective brides during a wedding ceremony.
Roti buaya is served at the early stages of a wedding ceremony processions, namely in seserahan or in lamaran, which is the day when a prospective groom and his family, or entourage, come to the house of the prospective bride. The seserahan symbolises the groom’s responsibility and commitment to the bride.
Roti buaya usually comes in a pair with a length each up to 50 to 70 centimetres. Each pair of roti buaya thus signifies the readiness of two people who are ready to embark on a new journey together. Traditionally, roti buaya was baked until very hard —not intended for consumption, after the wedding the bread would be placed upon a shelf or above a cupboard until it spoils completely, further symbolising the new couple’s commitment to stay together through all of life’s changes, and indeed until death do them part.
The tradition remains strong to this day among the Betawi people, however the roti buaya is more commonly made to be consumed, baked soft with tasty fillings and toppings of chocolate, cheese, strawberry. Roti Buaya is also distributed to unmarried relatives in hopes that they soon will find their own suitors!
