Roti buaya

Roti buaya, whose name means crocodile bread, is a sweetened two-piece bread shaped like a crocodile and made by the Betawi people of Jakarta. It is always present at traditional Betawi weddings. The Betawi hold that crocodiles mate with a single partner for life, so the bread stands for the fidelity of a married couple, and guests watch the bread on the bride side because its condition is taken to reflect the groom character. It also stands for patience, economic establishment and, in another account, masculinity. Baking arrived with the Portuguese and Dutch who settled in Batavia, and before bread was introduced a crocodile shaped dish was made from yam or cassava; the modern loaf dates from the colonial era.