You can tuck into all kinds of different food in Ubud - fusion, Greek, vegan, Japanese, Italian, Padang, French or Indian. But the search for authentic Balinese food usually dead-ends at overpriced smoked duck with all the trimmings at 24 hours notice. Smoked duck is divine, but it’s hardly everyday fare.
Why is the local cuisine so elusive? Janet de Neefe’s book Fragrant Rice‚ recounts her passionate love affair with its aromas, tastes and textures and reminds us that preparing it is a slow labour of love. There’s no written history of Balinese cuisine, no ancient recipes handed down on the lontars. Pungent, savoury and multi-dimensional, the distinctive dishes were passed down the generations by word of mouth. It’s also very labour-intensive. Traditionally the spice mixtures are blended in a stone mortar with a pestle, meat is minced finely, vegetables are reduced to microscopic dimensions and all ingredients are mixed by hand. Short cuts don’t seem to work. Wayan was delighted with a new blender but we both found that the Balinese food didn’t taste the same; the flavours were too homogeneous, less distinct. We soon went back to the mortar and the blender is gathering dust under the sink.
Most dishes are built around a bumbu or spice paste, and I’m intrigued that so many basic bumbu ingredients also serve as medicines in their own right. Garlic crushed in hot water with lemon juice and honey treats colds and flu, and the raw bulbs swallowed whole combat intestinal parasites. Ginger is taken for indigestion and nausea. Turmeric is known to be a potent natural antiseptic and antibiotic, whether taken internally or applied to the skin. The juice (popularly known as jamu) is taken as a general tonic and for menstrual pain. Kencur, a related rhizome, is ground with rice and water to make boreh, a paste that is applied to the head and body for fever. Lemongrass and onions cool the body and tamarind purifies the blood. The chili arrived in Bali fairly recently, some time after the Portuguese brought it to India in the 16th century. It contains capsaicin, which releases endorphins (the body’s natural painkillers) and thus reduces stress. Chili also thins the blood and speeds the metabolism. Ground to a paste in the mortar, the bumbu is an amazing amalgam of flavours as well as a formidable pharmacy for the diner’s wellbeing.
There are some interesting parallels with other cuisines. The ancient Romans valued a seasoning they called garum or liquamen. (In Indonesian, garam is salt.) This mixture of fish or shellfish and salt (to inhibit bacterial growth) was left in an earthenware pot in the sun for several months until a clear golden liquid could be drawn from it. This singular liquid somehow found its way to Vietnam and Thailand where it’s widely used today under the names of nam pla and nuoc mam. The residue was compressed and dried into a hideously pungent block and by a similar mysterious route arrived in Indonesia where it is known as terasi udang. Minute slices of this noxious seasoning are roasted and added to the bumbu, which does not seem to suffer from the addition.
While I was in the pantry curling up my nose over the household jar of terasi, Wayan volunteered that the Balinese made a different, even stronger variation from rotted garden snails which is called terasi hitam. “It smells very bad when you’re making it but if you add just a little bit, the food is delicious,”she insisted. Who on earth dreamed that one up?
Another menu item favoured by many Balinese is blood. “You can boil it or fry it,” Wayan instructs. “Not in this house,” I demur. Blood is a key ingredient in lawar, a ceremonial food prepared by men. If offered lawar, it may be strategic to enquire whether it is lawar merah (with blood) or lawar putih (bloodless). Blood has been a traditional food for nomads through history, requiring no packaging or cooking if taken in small amounts from the living animal. The Irish ate blood boiled with milk, butter and herbs. In France in the 1890s, ladies would drop by the local slaughterhouse for a bracing glass of fresh blood. Blood sausage is still popular today.
Since we were on the subject of interesting food, I asked Wayan if she had ever eaten dog. “I don’t really know,” she admitted. “I’m not brave enough to try it. But sometimes if you’re sick, people will give it to you to make you strong and tell you it’s cow meat.” As an afterthought, she added, “People who donate blood and feel weak should drink dog’s blood.”
As everywhere else, people in Bali are busy these days. Many women are too busy to cook from scratch. The shift from traditional foods to white bread, processed food, instant noodles and the ubiquitous fried rice have had a dramatic negative impact on the health of the Balinese.
Largely unknown to the outside world, Balinese food is appetizing and unique. There are several cooking schools in Ubud, the newest of which offers an excellent two-day hands-on immersion course into the Balinese cuisine. Ibu Iluh, the teacher, hails from North Bali and brings with her several unusual regional recipes. The dishes have been selected to be easily replicable in Western kitchens, with alternative measurements and ingredients. Currently the course is offered in conjunction with a 3-night stay at the Secret Garden in Penestanan. Details from <info@balisecretgarden.com».
(If you’re really craving smoked duck, your pembantu can probably get it from her village for about Rp 35,000.)
