Balinese cuisine is so different – flavorful, spicy, comfort food…

Today we went to a cooking school in the small town of Kuta.

There were fifteen of us and as we left the dock in our minivans, we couldn’t help but be curious as to why they split us up into three groups rather than just putting us in a small bus. It became evident as we crossed the new Benoa Harbor Bridge and Viaduct into the small waterfront town of Kuta. The wide boulevard soon started to narrow and alley once we turned into what I thought was an alley. The alley was actually a two-way street that threaded its way between two rows of high walls punctuated by ornate doorways and occasional shop fronts. We stopped in front of one such wall and were led out of the vans into a small courtyard.

The courtyard was the entry to the Anika Guest House and Balinese Cooking School. We climbed a rather steep set of stairs to the upper deck. There before us was a long table for us to sit at and settle in. At each place there was a small booklet with a listing and description of the various spices and herbs we would be using along with recipes for all of the dishes we would be cooking that day.

Our instructor was Mr. Komang, the resident chef. He wasted no time as he introduced himself and picked up a small dish from a platter of small dishes, leaves, shoots, and stalks set in front of him. What followed was about an hour of Mr. Komang reviewing all of the items on his tray and telling us about how each is used in Balinese cooking. He also had many asides regarding how many of the items could be used as herbal medicines and folk remedies.

Mr. Komang then showed us our work stations – this was to be a hands-on course in local cookery and we were again split up into three groups of five.

Each group had its own table of work stations and sets of foods to be cut, chopped, ground, and otherwise prepared fro our lunch. Each group also had an assistant to Mr. Komang to give us guidance and to provide smaller demonstrations. This was one of the more interesting aspects of this class since the assistants had very limited English. Their presence confirmed to me that cooking is universal and that one does not have to be fluent in another language to make cooking a shared experience.

This is what we started with.

For the next three hours we cut, chopped, ground, and stir-fried. The cutting and chopping were not so bad, but all of the finely diced ingredients had to then be mashed using mortars and pestles cut from volcanic rock to make a soupy paste for the seasonings for each dish. The cutting and chopping were what we expected. The grinding – typical in every Balinese home – was not.It took real muscle power to get all those bits and pieces mushed together to make a fine paste. The techniques looked easy enough when demonstrated; but, wow, do your arms get tired quickly when you are not used to making those types of rocking, grinding motions using your entire upper body to get some oomph behind it.

This is what we ended with before we started on the mortar and pestle.

These are the volcanic rock mortar and pestle "appliances" that we used to further process the diced vegetables, herbs, leavers, and spices. The mixture had to be ground to a smooth paste - HARD WORK!

What we would up with was a seven-course luncheon that was one of the best meals of the trip so far. It was good not only because we helped prepare it or because we knew the provenance of the ingredients, but because Balinese cuisine is distinctive among eastern cuisines for its use of herbs and spices, a number of which are not found even in other parts of Indonesia. We have had Indonesian food before, but this was a revelation!

The top picture is a look at our finished dishes and the bottom picture is one of the Chef's assistants cooking our dessert.

Here is our menu for the day:
Balinese Beef Satay
Grilled Fish and Steamed Fish in Banana Leaves
Chicken Curry
Spinach in Tomato-Chili Sambal
Gado-Gado (steamed vegetables in spicy peanut sauce)
Nasi Goreng (the Indonesian national fried rice dish with a Balinese twist)
Mei Goreng (another Indonesian specialty, but with stir-fried thin noodles rather than rice)
Pickled Carrot and Cucumber Salad
Sambal Olek for seasoning (this fiery chili condiment is also well-known in the east and really spikes the flavors in many foods – HOT, Hot, hot…)
Dessert was actually two more courses:
Green Pancakes filled with Coconut and Palm Sugar
Sticky Black Rice Pudding with Coconut Cream

It turned out that the assistants were Mr. Komang’s Mother, Father, sister and daughter. Mr. Komang on the left; Mother next to him; daughter next to Mother; brother next on right; sister on the right.

Several shots of the apprentice chefs hard at work and with their finished product.

After filling ourselves to the brim, we rolled down the stairs and back to the ship. This was probably the most fun five hours that we could have spent even though we really had to work.

After we arrived back on board and were cleaning up in our suite, we heard a lot of noise from the verandah. We went outside and saw an entire flotilla of boats – all sizes and shapes and all with banners and slogans draped. We found out from some of the Indonesian staff that the issue has to do with some local politicians desire to reclaim land in the harbor and erect the usual conglomeration of high-rises, casinos, and island estates. The locals are incensed over this “land grab.”

Just a few of the hundreds of small craft that ran back and forth in the harbor.

We now have a couple of sea days and then on to Sandakan, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia (that’s one address: Sandakan is the city; Sabah is the state, Borneo is the island; and, Malaysia is…well, you know) to visit with the Orangutans and Proboscis monkeys. Stay tuned…