SPRING 2005 ETHNIC COOKING NOTES

Balinese Cuisine

Foods Cooked

Melinjo Crackers
Rice Steamed Bali Style
Peanut Sauce--Less Sweet
Pepes--Banana-Wrapped Chicken
Tea
Basa Geddes--Spice mixture
Sateh Lalit--Fish Pate Skewers
Acar (Atjar)
Bubur Itam--Black Rice Pudding
Cassava Root Boiled w/ Palm Sugar
Masak Babi Bumbu Bali--Wok'd Pork Tenderloin w/ Coconut & Peppers
Ketipat--Steamed Rice Sausage
Sayur Jepang--CoconutMilk-Chayote Soup/Curry
Tempe Surya
Recipes
Technique Stuff

• Handling Banana Leaves--Toast lightly for flexibility
• The Daily Grind--using a cobek (tjobek) to grind spices and herbs

Indonesia was host to numerous cultural invasions, and from each they kept what suited their palates, and ignored what did not. The earliest settlers in Bali came from Indochina, consequently menus mirror Chinese tastes. The vegetables that form the backbone of the Balinese diet include cabbage, what they call "spinach"(actually an amaranth) and mustard greens, long beans, mung beans, bean sprouts and soy beans, as well as soy sauce, noodles, and wontons.  From the Spanish explorers Bali discovered chili peppers, peanuts, tomatoes, and corn. From the Portuguese colonizers in Timor casava and sweet potatoes, and from the East Indian traders eggplant, mangoes, and the numerous spices found in curries.
The savory palate of Bali includes a montage of these cultural influences, including flavorings of roots--especially galangals AKA Laos&Kentjur)-- lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves, shallots, garlic and ginger, liberal sprinklings of chilies (especially red ones), cumin, coriander(but not the leaf). and cardamom, all finished off with coconut milk. Skankiness comes from fermented shrimp paste AKA trassi, but also from soy sauce which is often aromatized and sweetened.Balinese are notorious for their rice consumption, and no meal is complete without a steaming bowl as the centerpiece. Rice steamed in a basket or boiled in a tightly woven coconut leaf basket until it forms a firm cake are especially prized.
As expected of an island paradise, fresh fish and crustaceans are inexpensive and plentiful, and other sources of protein include free-range poultry, duck, goat, and the Balinese favorite; spit-roasted pork. Vegetarians will not feel left out, as eggs and tofu are plentiful, and the high-protein Indonesian creation tempe, is available in numerous inventive and tasty manifestations.
Fruit lovers will be in paradise. Numerous tropical fruits are served every morning in a sumptuous fruit salads, and our fruit tastings will include many rare and delicious varieties, such as jack fruit, salak, rambutan, passion fruit, and sawu, as well as  some of Bali's 17 varieties of bananas.

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