Bali Unveiled: The Secrets of Balinese Cuisine by Heinz von Holzen
In subtlety, variety and creativity, Balinese food holds a high rank among Indonesia’s cuisines. It’s becoming much easier to find Western-oriented Balinese food on menus, the dishes usually modified to suit finicky Western palates. Many hotel restaurants now have a token babi guling (roast suckling pig) or a bebek betutu (spiced smoked duck) on their menus, but Balinese cuisine goes way beyond these two famous dishes.
Bali Unveiled: The Secrets of Balinese Cuisine uncovers the mysteries of a gastronomic tradition that has been little explored before Chef Heinz von Holzen stepped foot on the island of Bali more than two decades ago. Swiss-born von Holzen was planning a career in engineering when he took on a stint as an apprentice chef instead. He worked in the kitchens of the Hyatt and Hilton and then as a food consultant before being lured back into the hotel industry by the Grand Hyatt Bali.
There, he realized that Bali lacked a proper sit-down restaurant that served authentic Balinese cuisine. Most specialized in dishes that were a mix of Indonesian, Italian and French flavors. Thus the idea for his Bumbu Bali restaurant grew and finally materialized, opening its doors halfway up the Tanjung Benoa peninsula.
To promote the food of Bali even more vigorously, Chef von Holzen began personally conducting cooking classes at his restaurant three times a week. The classes became immensely popular and contributed considerably to von Holzen’s standing as a master of Balinese cuisine as well as cementing Bumbu Bali’s reputation as an authentic Balinese restaurant of international standing.
Chef Heinz von Holzen’s passion for the food and culture of Bali lead him ultimately to develop an interest in photography. Today, besides his main calling as a chef, von Holzen is also an accomplished photographer with several books and hundreds of images to his credit. All the photographs featured in the book were taken by the author himself.
Together with American author and Balinese culture authority Fred B. Eisman providing the anecdotes, Chef von Holzen has delved deep into the food culture of Bali, uncovering spices, ingredients, cooking techniques and detailed recipes never before published. In this groundbreaking cookbook, he presents them to the reader along with stunning full-color photographs. Other pragmatic features of the book include an illustrated appendix of spices and a list of common ingredients.
Bali Unveiled: The Secrets of Balinese Cuisine by Heinz von Holzen. Marshall Cavendish International 2004, ISBN 981-232-697-9, appendices, no index, 192 pages.
Available for Rp325,000 at Periplus Bookshops in the Bali Galleria and in the Matahari in Kuta, Warung Made in Seminyak, Ngurah Rai Airport (both international and domestic terminals), in Gramedia Bookstores, and in Ary’s, Ganesha and Periplus bookshops of Ubud.
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