Number 20 - Cook a Balinese feast

Bali is one of the most beautiful places I’ve visited in the world. The landscapes, beaches and jungles, culture  and architecture are all spectacular. But one thing that I definitely fell in love with whilst there was the food! 

Thanks to Puspa who welcomed us into her family home Paon Bali in the village of Lapalapan I was able to learn more about how to combine local spices and  ingredients to create dishes with bursting with an explosion of flavours and colour. 

We started the day with Wayhu who took us to the local market in Ubud and what an experience that was. 

Local market vendors selling fresh fruit, vegetables and spices. I have to admit the smell was quite overwhelming and the sound of local people bargaining with vendors to get the best prices quite an experience.

Next we headed over to the local village of Lapalapan to see their rice paddies. The villagers sow the seeds and harvest the rice crop by hand and takes 3 months at a time. 

Then it was time to get cooking. We had the most warm welcome from Puspa and her family at rhyme home in the village. 

There were no short cuts here, we prepared the ingredients and ground the spices by hand to make our peanut sauce and using the Bali blender to crush the mixture of spices to make the yellow curry paste was an experience!

After a few hours we were able to dine on our 8 course feast against the backdrop of the Bali jungle 

1. Mushroom soup
2. Fried Tempah salad with peanut sauce 
3. Green bean and shallot salad with peanut sauce
4. Gadu - tofu salad 
5. Tuna and vegetables steamed in a banana leaf
6. Yellow chicken curry
7. Chicken satay 
8. Coconut and banana dessert with palm sugar 

The flavours were amazing, a mixture of sweetness and spice balanced well with fish, vegetables and chicken. I bought as many ingredients as I could back home so I can recreate the same dishes.

One of the best things about travelling is being able to experience and sample the many different local cuisines, dishes and flavours like you’ve never tasted before. Trying new foods is great because it’s like a new exciting discovery of something you never knew existed yet is a staple everyday meal for people across the world! 

If you’re planning on visiting Bali and Ubud I would definitely recommend this cooking class. You can book your space here

http://www.paon-bali.com/