I recently received a Balinese cookbook. Never having been there, I had no idea what type of food I might get there so when I saw the cookbook, I bought it. The subtitle is "Authentic recipes from the island of the gods." Doesn't that sound like fun? I'm sure Easter Island might disagree with that but I'm not going to argue.
I read through it and found some recipes that sound like they would make a really great meal. I'd start with Gedang Mekuah (green papaya soup) that sounds really good with the lemongrass and spices. What is nice about the recipe is I can substitute summer squash if I can't find papaya. The main dish is harder to decide but I think I'd go with either the Semur Lidah (ox tongue in sweet nutmeg sauce) or Siap Base Kalas (chicken in spiced coconut milk) if I were into meat. As far as seafood goes, there is BePasih Mepanggang (marinated grilled fish) or Sambel Udang (shrimp Sambal). I'd serve yellow rice and Jukut Urab (mixed vegetables with grated coconut) for the reminder of the meal and for dessert, I'd go for Jaja Batun Bedil (sticky rice cake in brown sugar sauce).
In the background, I'd have some Balinese music to help put me in the mood. The mood being simply that I'm on a nice warm beach with a gentle breeze blowing and I'll eat each item while pretending I'm somewhere else.
Can you see spending part of a day preparing such a meal so you can spend a nice long time savoring the flavors and becoming acquainted with the nuances that are new to you. I have a nice long weekend coming up and I think I'm going to cook dishes from two different countries so I can get out and experience the world without ever leaving my house.
Has anyone every done something like this when you couldn't just drop everything and head off? Let me know if you do this.
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