Ubud & Balinese Cooking

June 25, 2018

Today we meet with a local chef and after a visit to the local market, we will try our hand at cooking- Balinese style!

The market is bustling, early in the morning. 
Many of the vendors begin setting up before the sun- around 4am.

A grandmother teaching her granddaughter the ways of the market...first, you must park your bike.

Another grandmother working hard...

Flower offerings-
Alot of time and energy is spent on making these colorful bouquets as offerings to the Hindu gods. As a daily ritual, worshippers place them everywhere...in front of their food stalls & homes, on sidewalks and even in the middle of the street.

Sweet rice cake as a pre-breakfast snack

The chef showing us how to pick the right ingredients for our cooking experience.
This torch ginger flower is one we will not be able to find back in the US.

Local bus

The chef's home-
In this area of Bali (or maybe all of Bali), families live in multi-generational "compounds" of 5-6 homes of centered around a family temple.

The family's temple

Not only did he invite us into his home & beautiful garden, our chef also prepared a typical Balinese breakfast for us to enjoy before we spend the next 3 hours in the kitchen preparing lunch!

After our delicious breakfast, we took a short walk to the outdoor kitchen built in the middle of the nearby terraced rice fields of the village. 

Before cooking, we have a lesson in rice farming-

It is back breaking, muddy work-

Matt gives it a go.

Plow first,

then plant...

Then have a refreshing coconut drink.

Now to begin the cooking class!
All Balinese dishes begin with a basic spice paste called "Bumbu Bali"- The aromatic ingredients include, ginger, turmeric, chilis, lemongrass, tomato, candlenut, onion, ginger & lime leaves.

We don our aprons & get to work!

I hope I will have as cheerful helpers in the kitchen when we get home...

Once the Bumbu is made, it is added to ground chicken & formed around lemongrass stalks to make a tasty satay.

Ready for the grill-

There is an art to folding the banana leaves in order to keep the yummy filling inside-

Just like this!

For dessert- crepes with sweetened mango-yummm...

What a satisfying and very fun morning for us all!

Look at this beautiful food-

Only one thing left to do-

We have enjoyed food tours in many different countries but for the 4 of us together, to take part in actually cooking a meal while abroad is a family "first".
Based on today's unique experience and enjoyment, I sure hope it is not the last.