I see myself as completely addicted to Balinese cuisine. I
enjoy cooking and love the wonderful flavors of Bali, the
fresh ingredients and the large variety of dishes available.
Indeed, Balinese cuisine controls everything I do now
in the restaurant, in the cooking classes and in my work on
a new book on the subject.
What made you want to be a chef? Was it a childhood
ambition?
I never thought I would go into cooking. Electronics and mechanics
are both interesting to me. So, I started an apprenticeship
as an engine designer. After 3-1/2 years alone in the office
and totally bored, I walked out of this job. The next day
I found an open position as an apprenticeship chef. I have
loved every minute in the kitchen since.
How did you come to Indonesia?
Before Bali I worked for 5 years in Singapore with the
Hilton and Hyatt. Hyatt then transferred me to Bali and offered
me the challenging job of Executive Chef in the new Grand
Hyatt Bali.
What is the concept behind Bumbu Bali?
I strongly believe that Bumbu Bali is the only real Balinese
restaurant where diners can enjoy in an authentic Balinese
setting the great flavors of our island. One other main feature
is our cooking classes where we teach interested travelers
the basics of Balinese cuisine. Overall, I guess it’s
my ”mission” to tell the world that Bali has more
than just ricefields and lots of great attractions and activities,
but also a cuisine which ranks among all the other classic
Asian cuisines. I would like to share with others my enthusiasm
for this great cuisine. Just think about how much money has
been invested into Thai, Chinese, Indian or Malay cuisines.
Nobody seems to care to invest in our great cooking.
In Bali and in Indonesia it’s extremely difficult to
find good local cuisine in a nice environment.
What’s special about Bumbu Bali?
In Bali, it seems that almost all restaurants serve similar
lines of food. A bit of Indonesian, a bit of Italian, a bit
of French and then of course cap cai. What is distinctive
about our restaurant is that we only serve only Balinese food.
And because of this we have had a tremendous response. Without
reservations it can be very difficult to get a seat in the
evenings.
Your cuisine has been said to be a Western interpretation
of the Balinese cuisine. Can you describe where you get your
inspiration?
We serve 100% authentic Balinese cuisine. Unfortunately, Indonesian
as well as Balinese cuisine is extremely difficult to find
(done the right way in a nice environment) and if you find
it, then in most cases the dishes are not prepared with a
lot of care. My main inspiration has come definitely from
the great people of Bali, who also helped me collect our most
popular recipes. Let me just mention just one inspiring influence.
Bapak Lother Arsana, currently the Executive Chef at the Grand
Hyatt in Bali, was one of the finest chefs I have ever worked
with. His tremendous knowledge on the cuisine and culture
of Bali were extremely instrumental in getting all the recipes
completed for my book on Food of Bali, which I wrote and photographed
in 1992.
What is Balinese cuisine?
Fresh, colorful, richly spiced and incredibly good. Here in
Bali we have access to some very fresh produce. Like a Balinese
housewife, we are at the markets 7 days a week. Vegetables
are harvested the day before, pigs and chickens are slaughtered
the same day, and fish we buy directly from the fishing boats
when they come in early in the morning. Ninety percent of
the spices we use are fresh and not dried like in Indian cuisine.
Various chilies, galangal, turmeric, ginger, kencur, lemon
grass and cloves are all still soft and fresh.
Since the day we opened Bumbu Bali, it was our commitment
to present Balinese cuisine in its original form and what
we serve today is 100% original Balinese. I think the only
Swiss-my nationality - influence would be the discipline we
brought to food preparation. The same recipes which you can
view on our website are also used in our daily operations.
The most important ingredients are the basic spice pastes
(bumbu). These must be measured exactly to guarantee that
each dish always tastes the same.
How did you go about finding the recipes?
In Bali it is extremely difficult to find Balinese food unless
one is invited into a home or to a ceremony. Most street food
is prepared by Javanese vendors. It’s funny but when
I arrived here the Balinese chefs asked me how to prepare
some of their local flavors. As we had 150 chefs on our team,
we had lots of talent available. I organized a cooking competition
among the chefs and asked them to prepare their favorite recipes
from home. The result was fantastic and I was overwhelmed
by the variety of dishes and flavors available. I then took
photos of the prepared dishes and scribbled down the basic
recipes. Shortly after I met a publisher who was interested
in producing a book on the food of Bali. Prior to my compiling
these recipes under one volume, no other recipe book was available
on Balinese cuisine. This book, The Food of Bali, published
by Periplus, became starting point in the development of Bumbu
Bali. We still follow these recipes and use them also in our
cooking classes.
As a chef, what motto do you live by?
I think to be a chef has to be the greatest profession on
the planet. There are very few jobs where you find such deep
fulfillment. But the biggest kick for me is always the costumer
who takes a photo of our open kitchen, who comes up to me
and says thank you for such a wonderful experience, and who
leaves the restaurant so satisfied.
What about the future?
My future is definitely here in Bali. Above all, we will continue
the journey with Bumbu Bali. I also hope to participate in
many upcoming gourmet food festivals around the globe such
as those in St. Moritz, Singapore, Cape Town. I will continue
my research on the many aspects of Balinese cuisine and hope
to discover many more recipes from this fantastically tasty
style of cooking. For example, we are currently working on
interesting recipes for seaweed, honeycomb, eel, crab, mushroom
in banana leaf, fried blood, banana stems, starfruit leaves
and snails. Just wait until you try them!
For additional information on Bumbu Bali Restaurant and cooking
school, contact hvhfood@indosat.net.id, www.balifoods.com
<http://www.balifoods.com/> and www.indo-chef.com.
For anyone interested in being considered for Siapa, please
contact : pakbill2003@yahoo.com
Copyright@2005 Al Hickey
You can read all past articles of Siapa
at www.BaliAdvertiser.biz
