The majority of citizens work as farmers, in the metal industry, the public service, or in a variety of home industries, including teak furniture-making and weaving sarongs. As is generally the case with 'urbanisation', many young people leave the area after high school, heading for larger urban centres such as
Jakarta,
Bandung, and
Semarang and some timber processing towns such as
Banjarmasin and
Balikpapan. In the last three decades, some have been working overseas in places such as the Middle East, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Their financial remittances are an important source of income for the area. The out-of-town family members would generally return to Slawi for the
Moslem holidays of
Idul Fitri as a tradition. Local crafts include traditional forms of
batik and metalworking, and
Wayang Kulit puppet shows are also performed. The local language of the area is
Javanese, spoken with a distinctive regional accent. The local cuisine lists among others, Tahu Aci, a fried tofu triangle with one side filled with cassava flour - represents the best vegetarian fried tofu among Asian cuisine. Sega Lengko, made of boiled and steamed rice adorned with fermented soybean cake pieces
tempeh,
tofu, soy-bean sprouts
tauge, sand-fried
peanuts, and some hand-crushed krupuk aci (cassava flour crackers), and/or krupuk udang (prawn crackers), fried shallots with mild chili peanut sauce over the top before serving. There is also a variety of chicken turmeric soup, Soto Tegal, and Sate Tegal. There are many local food stalls, called
Warteg (Warung Tegal), which offer daily meals at affordable prices for all walks of life. Tea drinking at the small or large eatery has a famous local term called Moci - literally tea drinking from one small clay teapot with one teacup for each person. It is the way to drink the locally produced fragrant jasmine black
tea. The teapot is filled with a small paper bag the size of a matchbox full of
jasmine tea and poured with slightly scalding hot water. The brewed tea is then poured into a clay teacup with rock
sugar. The way the locals do is not to stir avoiding average sweetness, and drink while it is hot preferably with some slurping noise as well. Some will pour it on the saucer and slurp it with abandoned pleasure. The idea is to get to the last slurp or sip when it is sweetest and in this way encourage refill. It somewhat reflects the Malay
pantun proverb, 'berakit-rakit ke hulu/berenang-renang ke tepian/ bersakit-sakit dahulu/bersenang-senang kemudian', meaning there is a satisfying end to a difficult beginning. Not to be mistaken with the way the Russians drink their tea, by holding the rock sugar between their teeth and sipping the tea. Moci is frequently accompanied by Mendoan, a moist fermented soybean cake (tempe or
tempeh) fried in wheat flour batter, often eaten with sambal ulek (oelek) or plain
chilli paste or simply bite into one bird's eye chilli then bite a piece of the tempe. This is a favourite drink while enjoying the famous Sate Tegal, a sate of local goat meat. ==Local areas of interest==