COOKED RICE INNOVATION TO INCREASE THE TOURISM ATTRACTION OF PINDUL CAVE

Abstract

Food tourism has a vital role in sustainable tourism. However, there are still many local culinary products that have not been widely requested by tourists. This study aims to find a recipe for rice product innovation as one of the culinary icons in Pindul Cave, to find out people's acceptance of nasi pindul (pindul rice). This research uses a research and development approach from Borg and Gall, which is simplified into three steps. The first step, preliminarystudy to identify various rice recipes, then analyzed through FGD with expert judgment. The FGD produced three rice recipes that could be developed. Through expert opinion, one relevant recipe is chosen to be developed. The second step, development of the recipe chosen with the substitution of local ingredients namely cassava. The last step, testing the recipe with a sensory test and customer satisfaction test. The results of the study revealed that innovation in culinary products in Pindul Cave Tourism is Pindul Rice. Pindul rice is made from savory white rice mixed with grated cassava, wrapped in leaves and grilled, with a side dish of fried or roasted chicken side dish, supplemented with chili sauce and raw vegetables. Reasons for choosing cassava as a mixture in pindul rice arecassava as a local food that is easily obtained, cheap, easy to process; can improve the business and competitiveness of culinary businesses; and pindul rice has the potential to become a culinary icon of Pindul Cave tourism which have impact increase the selling price of cassava and finally improve the welfare of the surrounding community. It could be interpret form its research that pindul rice can be accepted and have a big potential to be liked by tourismbased on a sensory perspective.