I signed up for a Bali cooking class thinking I already knew Indonesian food. I grew up on it, after all. More so, I had attended a cooking class in Bali before. The first thing I remember from that class is that I was 5kg lighter when I did it a decade ago. But Bali, it turns out, still had a few things to teach me.
What the Bali cooking class taught me
Coriander tastes like salt. Our chef said it, I tried it, and now I can’t un-taste it.
Candlenut is a laxative. Kemiri is in half the bumbu I have ever eaten, and nobody in my family thought to mention this. Respect the nut.
Cut lengthwise. Always lengthwise. I nodded like I’d been doing it my whole life.
The ulekan is made of lava. Ours was carved from Mount Batur lava stone by the artisans who live around the volcano. I have been grinding sambal on a volcano this whole time and never once thought about it.
And our chef comes from a glass-blowing village and was a glass blower before he was a cook. Lava stone, molten glass, a hot wok. Some people are just meant to be near fire.
The people at my Bali cooking class
Half the fun of a cooking class is who ends up next to you at the chopping board. There was Jeniffer. There was the Yoo family from Korea, who were there because the kid wanted to cook (the dad is a chef, so no pressure). And there was a couple who live in Japan, one Spanish and one Taiwanese, who reminded me so much of Vivian I nearly took a photo to send her.
A room full of strangers from everywhere, all bent over the same ulekan, learning Balinese food together. I came for the recipes and left with the stories. That’s the best kind of class.
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[…] immerse myself in Bali culture, I took an Ubud cooking class during our last trip to Bali. Also, since I know nothing about cooking, I thought it would be a […]