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BALI FOOD
INDONESIAN FOOD AND COOKING
Indonesian home cooking can be excellent, but finding a restaurant serving
good local Indonesian foods in pleasant and comfortable
surroundings is very difficult. Some tiny food stalls
and "Warungs" offer one or two excellently prepared local
specialties but the primitive surroundings easily spoil
the experience for many visitors. On the other hand,
Indonesian food served in well-decorated and comfortable
Western-style restaurants are often specially prepared for
foreigners and have not much similarity with the delicious
authentic version.
The centerpiece of any Indonesian meal is steamed or boiled
rice. Accompanying dishes include various preparations of chicken,
duck, beef, (in Bali also pork), goat, all kinds of seafood and
vegetables, either steamed, boiled, braised, stir or deep fried,
roasted or grilled over coconut husks. Other ingredients used
to give Indonesian food its unique flavours are chillies,
coconut, peanuts, garlic, ginger, saffron, basil, cardamon,
lemon grass, lime, nutmeg, pepper, shallots, soy sauce,
tamarind, turmeric and several kinds of shrimp paste.
(They weren't called the Spice Islands for nothing, you know.)
The result is usually very tasty but not unbearably hot - as
long as you avoid the small green chillies and different
kinds of 'Sambal' which are often served together with your meal.
Indonesian foods served in many restaurants and hotels
include 'Sate' (charcoal-grilled skewers with small pieces of
chicken, beef, pork or prawns) served with a peanut sauce,
'Gado-Gado' (a half-boiled combination of various vegetables
with peanut sauce), and 'Nasi Goreng', tasty fried rice with
either meat or shrimps.
BALINESE FOOD
There are two traditional Balinese foods you should
not miss: It's a must to try the Babi Guling, the crispy
skin and pieces of grilled suckling pig which is a
specialty of the town of Gianyar, and the Bebek Betutu,
a delicious duck specialty, slowly baked in banana leaves
together with many different herbs and spices. To try
"Babi Guling" watch out for signboards at small restaurants
which specialize in this dish.
The best place to experience a whole range of
authentic Balinese dishes including Sate Lilit made from
minced prawns and fish, a delicious grilled marinated
fish, and Nasi Kuning, yellow rice often served at
celebrations, is the BUMBU BALI Restaurant in Tanjung
Benoa adjacent to Nusa Dua (Jalan Pratama, Gang Nusa
No. 5B). This unique and very comfortable restaurant
was opened in December 1997 by Heinz von Holzen,
the author (and photographer) of "The Food of Bali"
- a book which is a must for everybody interested in
exotic cuisines. Heinz is the former food guru of the
Grand Hyatt Bali and the Ritz Carlton hotel, and his
new restaurant is a temple devoted to traditional Balinese
cuisine - and a Cooking School for visitors at the same
time. Don't miss it!
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