learningcurves
Most of the common Balinese dishes are
named according to their main ingredient
and a description such as the cooking
method. The Indonesian favourite of nasi
goreng is nasi (rice) and goreng (frying).
Nasi campur (campur meaning ‘mixed’) is
a Balinese speciality with a scoop of white
rice and small portions of a number of other
dishes that may include curry, lawar, babi
guling, sate, vegetables, tempeh or eggs
with sambal.
Many of the distinctive flavours come from
the spices that are used. When talking
about particular dishes or sauces you may
hear of ‘bumbu’, which is the Indonesian
word for a spice mixture or seasoning.
Nutmeg, clove, galangal (aromatic ginger)
and pandan leaves are all native to
Indonesia, but many of the other spices that
are now at the core of Balinese cuisine were
introduced from mainland Asia in ancient
times, including black pepper, turmeric,
shallot, garlic, ginger, cinnamon, candlenut,
coriander and tamarind.
2
traditional family home in Laplapan
Village near Ubud.
1. Smorgasbord: A
selection of dishes
created in class
Coconuts are an essential ingredient in
Our day began with a trip to Ubud market
Balinese life. Coconut milk and sometimes
where we saw the ladies making the
2. Chop chop: Wannabe
young coconut flesh are used in many
colourful ‘canang sari’ and ‘segehan’
masterchefs come from
sweet and savoury dishes. Coconut oil
temple offerings that you see almost
all over the globe
is extracted from the kernel of matured
everywhere you go on the island.
coconuts and also used for cooking
Surrounded by huge wicker baskets filled
while the husks are dried and burnt as
with flowers, it’s mesmerising to watch as
charcoal, giving sate
its distinctive smokey
“The banquet at the end of the day was a
flavour. The local
treat. Good humour, great people. If you’re into
palm beer is made
cooking, this is a ‘must do’ when you visit Ubud.
from gum extracted
Even if you’re not a cook, it’s great fun and a taste
from the tree’s flower
of Bali.” Fishwithane, www.tripadvisor.com
buds. Coconut palm
leaves are used to
wrap food or to make
offerings to the gods and the timber
from the tree trunk is a popular
building material. As if all that wasn’t
enough, palm (coconut) sugar is
made by tapping the sap of the
tree and boiling it down to produce
a syrup that is then crystallised into
the solid lump that you may have
Type of activity:
EDUCATION CULTURE WILDLIFE ADVENTURE PHYSICAL
used in Asian recipes.
Adrenalin level:
CHILLED WAKE-UP CALL WOW AAAARRRGGGHHH
While it’s fascinating to read about,
Price (US$):
$0-50 $50-100 $100-200 $200-$300 $300+
it’s much more fun to consume and
Length of activity:
UP TO 2 HOURS HALF-DAY ALL-DAY
even more so to learn the trade
secrets that have evolved over
Child friendly:
NO YES
hundreds of years. So we decided
Experience needed: NO YES
to pick up a few tricks by heading
Meal provided:
NO YES
to the Paon Bali Cooking Class
at Wayan and Puspa Subawa’s
ESSENTIAL LOWDOWN
www.essential-bal