Bali: Food pix
We went to Bali last week, which is a mere 2.5 hour plane trip from Singapore. I’ve now been to Indonesia, which for some reason is as far away as you can get on my mental horizon – maybe because of all those primitive carvings on exhibit in museums that only show that aspect of Indonesia – the Papua New Guinea part, filled with head-hunters and animistic religions. But Bali is not at all primitive or even remotely hostile in feeling (unless you count the mosquitoes). It is really wonderful. I can’t wait to go again. The culture, the art, the religion and temples, the food, the beauty everywhere you look, the snorkeling on the coral reefs…..and we didn’t even sample the various massage and spa treatments available.
I’ll start my Bali blogging with a few pictures of food styling at the Komang John Cafe in Amed, on the east coast:
The margarita on the left sports a lime spiral, a sprig of something from the garden, and a frangipani blossom. The lime-accessorized beaker on the right contains, if I recall, pineapple juice, or possibly mango.
This is nasi goreng, one of the most common dishes in Bali – nay, in southeast Asia. Rice stir-fried with veggies and spices, with an egg on top and some sticks of satay tempeh and tofu on the side. But look how they put the soy and chili sauces in little cups made from cucumbers and carrots; and the cucumber garnish in the middle is pretty charming, too. Those little flying saucers on the right are shrimp crackers, freshly fried and crispy.
This is nasi campur, another very common dish. The banana-leaf cone contains rice, a mixture of red and white. There are prawn crackers, slices of tempeh with a sort of BBQ sauce on them, some slices of Bali omelette (with veggies in it), and sticks of lemon grass whose ends have been covered in a paste of fresh fish and spices and then grilled. There are a few other things on there as well, a couple of curries, salads, relishes, etc. Bon Appetite!