In Reply to: Do you know how KRETEKS are made? posted by Pascale on Thursday, 12. August 1999 at 06:33 Bali Time:
I believe that kretek such as Gudang Garam are made like this (I quote from Fred Eiseman's excellent "Bali: Sekala & Niskala" Volume II:
"...cloves are soaked in large concrete vats filled with water, to which has been added various falvorings - oils of cherry, banana, pineapple, and other fruits. Men stir up the vats with large boards, then drain off the liquid and rake the cloves into thin layers to dry in the sun to the proper degree of dampness....The chopped cloves are bagged and taken to the mixing room. Here the various varieties of Javanese tobacco are weighed, mixed thoroughly, and spread out in a layer about 8 centimeters deep on the concrete floor. The proper number of bags of cloves are dumped on top of the tobacco, covering an area of several hundred square meters. Then a gang of three men crawl barefoot on their hands and knees through the clove-tobacco layers, mixing the ingredients with their hands, legs, and feet..."
Yum-yum...I'm going to light one up right now.