26
Jan/Feb 2015
they skilfully weave palm leaves into the small
baskets that hold the offerings to the gods. We
learn that every market has its own temple where
the sellers go each morning to make an offering in
the hope of a good day’s trade.
At one of the fruit stalls inside the market, our guide
Wayan taught us about the fruits that are native to
Bali, including banana, snake fruit, jackfruit, durian
and mangosteen (known in Bali as the ‘Queen
of the fruit’) and seven different types of mango.
He buys a few pieces of each and hands them
around for us all to have a taste.
3
3. Star attraction: Puspa
shows how to make the
perfect nasi goreng
4. In the soup:
Mushrooms, broccoli,
cauliflower and more go
into the sup jamur
We popped in to the spice vendor with his huge
array of dried spices and a vegetable stall selling
everything from fragrant limes smaller than a golf
ball to long beans, so named because they can be
over a metre long. Next stop is a stand of kitchen
tools where we learn that in Bali, everyday food is
prepared by women using the smaller knives they
also use to make the temple offerings. Ceremonial
food is usually prepared by the men using a larger
cleaver-style chopping knife. The backbone of a
Balinese kitchen is the dish-shaped stone mortar
and right-angle pestle (cobek and ulek ulek) that is
used for grinding spices as well as making sambal
and peanut sauce.
THE BACKBONE
OF A BALINESE
KITCHEN IS THE
COBEK AND
ULEK ULEK
You can’t talk about Balinese food without talking
about rice, which is why we left the hustle and
bustle of the markets for the serenity of the rice
fields. About 70 per cent of Bali’s population farms
rice and the paddy fields and terraces are popular
tourist attractions as well as producing the island’s
staple food. The word nasi (rice) also means ‘meal’
– no surprise when you consider that most Balinese
eat rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
4
www.essential-bali.com
We’re met at the padi (paddy) by another Wayan,
one of our hosts, who tells us about the cultivation of
this crop that is such an integral part of the culture
and the landscape. The majority of rice grown in
Bali is white rice, but they also grow red and black
varieties that are typically used in desserts. Most
rice is grown on family plots and used just to feed
the family, which seems excessive until you do the
maths. The average person consumes about half