Casa Luna Cooking School - Bali

As we were spending a decent amount of time in Bali, I decided that it might be interesting to go to a cooking school.  After some research, it became apparent that Casa Luna cooking school in Ubud was the place to go.  Casa Luna is owned by expat Janet Da Neefe and her husband and is one of many businesses
they run in Ubud including a bakery, restaurants and guesthouses.  I emailed Casa Luna well in advance to book the market tour and cooking class but it was already booked out so I tried for the cooking class only on the following day and had greater success.

We were welcomed by Oleg into an airy pavillion where we would be watching demonstrations and learning to cook a Balinese meal.  Although it was a hot day, the pavillion was surrounded by lush foliage with a lovely breeze flowing through, making it a very pleasant place to cook in.  It was no surprise to find out that all participants were Australian and after introductions, it was straight into the 'Get to know your ingredients' session.

Breezy Pavillion

Raw ingredients

Oleg took us through each ingredient, freshly chopping it and passing it around for people to sniff and taste, talking about where you could buy it and most importantly, whether you could take it back into Australia.  Oleg certainly knows his Australian quarantine regulations.  I can't say I was unfamiliar with the ingredients but there were still surprises such as the four different types of ginger and the amazingly dark and smoky
palm sugar that was as soft as butter because it was so fresh - certainly not like those rock hard packets you get at Asian supermarkets.

After a break and a refreshing Hibiscus Iced Tea, it was time to get down to business.  With the help of an assistant, Oleg demo'd how to make Rujak - a fruit salad with a dressing of that classic Asian combination of flavours: sweet, salty, sour and hot.  This included gula (palm sugar), shrimp paste, chilli, tamarind and salt ground to a paste and then loosened with water.  We tried it three different ways: with and without fish paste and then Balinese style with over 1/2 dozen little bird's eye chillis.  That certainly cleared our sinuses.  The combination of sweet and crunchy fruit (in this dish it was pineapple, apple and cucumber) with a tart and sweet dressing with zing was refreshing and a palate pleaser.  This will be one I'll be trying at the next summer BBQ.

Lava Mortars & Pestles

The basis for our dishes were a combination of herbs, spices, fruits and roots ground into sambals and pastes.  Rather than assigning each person a task, Oleg distributed the pre-chopped combinations and encouraged everyone to have a go.  There was a lot of grinding involved and it was all done by hand on enormous flat black lava mortars so there were plenty of opportunities to take a turn.

Grinding....

Grinding...

Grinding...

One of the key aspects I really enjoyed about the class was it's relaxed pace and approach to getting people involved.  If there were participants that were happier to observe than join in, that was no problem.  Perhaps they weren't so keen on grinding pastes but were happier threading the tempeh for the vegetarian satay.  It really didn't matter because there were plenty of tasks to do but there was no pressure for everyone to do something.  In the end, everyone had a go of doing at least one thing and very quickly, the raw ingredients started to be pulled together into a set of dishes for lunch.  It did help that a lot of the hard yards had been done by Oleg's assistant, who had been prepping, chopping and steaming ingredients long before we arrived.

Charring Coconut

Cooking with a smile

The final meal was enormous with plenty of unique flavours and unusual ingredients for us to enjoy at the end of a class that had not been too taxing at all.  I will post some recipes from our lesson at a later date.  The menu for the day:

Abundant Table

Casa Luna - 11th April 2012

Homemade Iced Hibiscus Tea

Rojak

Chicken Lawar

Balinese Satay

Fern Salad

Fern Fronds

 Beans  Coconut Milk

Corn Fritters

Gado Gado

Fragrant Yellow Rice

I had some trepidations about how the class would be structured and whether 15 people would be too many.  Concern turned to contentment as the relaxed presentation style and approach made for an enjoyable morning with a tasty reward and some pumped guns from all that grinding at the end of it all.  Best of all,  a place in a Casa Luna cooking class will only set you back 300 000 Rupiah ($33 to you).   I suggest you skip the markets and spend your money making your own Bali memory.   Make sure you book early as the classes are full every day.

Casa Luna Cooking School
Jalan Bisma
Ubud  Bali
Indonesia 80571
http://www.casalunabali.com/cooking-school/

Bali Bakery

Admit it.  When you think Bali, you don't think 'Bakery'.  Tropical paradise with cocktails at sunset - yes.  Patisserie - no.  None the less, Bali had a little surprise for me in the form of Bali Bakery in Kuta.  Bakery is understating it as they do breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as offer an amazing array of French patisserie and bread.

We visited for afternoon tea and were astonished at the variety of cakes and pastries on offer.  Equally astonishing were the minuscule prices.  Can you imagine paying 80c for a Foret Noir Eclair (Black Forest) at Coles, let alone at a high quality Patisserie?  Or how about a Lemon Flan for $1.30?  No, I didn't think so.

Most astonishing of all though, was how good the patisserie was.  I'm sure we've all seen the less than average Neenish Tarts or Vanilla Slices in Vietnamese bakeries that are a pale imitation of the ones we ate as kids.  No such problems in Bali Bakery.  Each item (and I tasted several) is made with high quality ingredients and crafted by a patissier who really knows their Opera Slice from their Caramel Chocolate Delice.

I enjoyed an Almond Pear Flan - rich and buttery with a whole pear baked into the frangipane, glazed and scattered with almonds.  An extra treat was to discover the core of the pear had been hollowed out and filled with almond cream.  I couldn't resist a Toffee Nut Crunch at 48c (yes, you read right) and it couldn't resist me.  The coffee is so-so but the coffee is so-so everywhere in Bali so it was no great surprise.  Besides, you're there for the cake!

Bali Bakery has 4 locations in the southern coastal area of Bali.  We visited the bakery in Kuta and friends who travelled with us said they preferred it to the one in Seminyak.  Wherever you visit, I don't think you will go wrong.

Bali Bakery
Various locations
http://www.balibakery.com/

Genuine Coconut Water

Coconut Water.  It's all the rage.  Buy it in a bottle at the health food shop.  Get it in a can with young coconut flesh from the Asian supermarket.  Buy it in a tetra brick mixed with fruity flavours.  Today I saw a litre of it at Sourced Grocer  for $10.  There's even an Australian based Coconut Water Review website.

I prefer my Coconut Water to be drunk directly from the coconut, preferrably in an exotic tropical location.  When I was in Bali recently, we visited the posh resorts in Nusa Dua, with their private white sand beaches and fancy schmancy tiki huts.  Right behind the beaches were the little warungs where the locals went to grab a quick bite to each and wash it down with some Coconut Water.  I joined them in a drink.  As you can see, the woman running the warung was quite handy with a machete and made short work of the coconut.  Click on the first photo to pull up the whole set and flick through like a short stop motion movie!

Here's my drink.  It was very big coconut so there was far too much for me to drink (knowing I had a long drive ahead).  Not bad value for around $1 with a bit of show thrown into the bargain.

Guest Post - Rockpool Bar & Grill

Hi - today something a little different.  My friend Robert and his wife Bronlynn are our long time 'Overseas Bite Sized Adventures' travel companions.  As Bron & I are in Bali at the moment, Robert has written a guest post.  He said 'Sorry, no photos' but luckily, I came prepared so here's one of the two of us enjoying a Bite Sized Adventure in Turkey.

Fiona & Robert in Istanbul

As part of a recent weekend in Sydney, we went to Rockpool Bar and Grill (RB&G).  It was one of the three things that we had planned to do in Sydney; along with the Picasso exhibition and Bridge Climb, so we were really looking forward to it.

RB&G is in the old City Mutual building in Hunter Street, right in the heart of the financial district.  There is almost nothing else open at night around that part of town, so it is an unusual spot for a restaurant.

However, the building itself more than makes up for the lack of atmosphere on the streets.  The 11-storey building was opened in 1936 and was the tallest building in Sydney at the time.  It is a gorgeous art-deco building, full of marble floors and columns.  It’s almost like an art-deco time capsule, where you expect to find Georges opening the door to Hercule Poirot’s apartment, and letting in a prospective client.

The restaurant is a large room, very dark, and with a reception desk bigger than most hotels.  There is a large bar area and a smallish mezzanine area.  It was busy, with barely an empty table, and some tables did two sittings while we were there.  This is a large operation.

We were led to our table, which was right in a corner and behind one of the glassware stations.  I was initially a bit worried about the level of service that we would receive – being tucked into the corner – but I needn’t have; it was attentive and professional.  (As an example, there was a young couple at the table next to us.  She mentioned that it was her birthday, and the next thing we saw was a cupcake with a birthday candle being delivered to the table.)

We started with a glass each of René Geoffroy ‘Empreinte’ Champagne, which was very dry and just delicious.

The menu is A3-sized, and printed on heavy paper.  It shows the day’s date, so it obviously changes daily.  It is quite “busy” with a lot of choices.

We shared an entree – one of the specials of the day – 3 Rottnest scallops, roasted simply.  Bronlynn commented that she thought that they were “cooked perfectly” but probably a bit underdone to her taste.

For main course, Bron ordered from the “Main Plate” section of the menu.  She had a Wagyu braised chuck with gremolata, roasted cherry tomatoes and potato puree.  The chuck was very tender and full-flavoured.  Bron particularly liked the gremolata too.  Her only quibble was that it was served in a bowl, not on a plate, which made it a bit difficult to cut.

I ordered from the “Beef from the Wood Fired Grill” section of the menu.  I had the Cape Grim Dry Aged 36 Month Old Grass Fed Rib-eye on the Bone.  It was the best steak I have ever had, tasty, and perfectly grilled with a bit of crunch on the surface, and medium-rare in the middle.  It came with a béarnaise sauce. We also had a couple of sides: Organic Carrots Inspired by St John’s, and Zucchini with Garlic, Lemon and Mint.  Bronlynn described the second one as the best zucchini she has ever had.

We had a half-bottle of Bordeaux with the mains.  I can’t remember which one, as the sommelier could not find our first choice and so offered an alternative which I couldn’t find on the wine list.  (I’m guessing that this is an occupational hazard with the wine list and cellar at RB&G!)

I had the Dark Chocolate Pudding Tart with Chocolate Sorbet for dessert, which was everything that you’d expect.  Rich, chocolaty and gooey.  Bronlynn had the Devils Food Cupcake with Mascarpone Cream from the Petit Fours section of the menu.  Hint, if you go to RB&G, and you can’t manage a full-size dessert, then this is your choice.  Bron washed that down with a glass of Seppeltsfield ‘Grand’ Rutherglen Tokay, and I had a Château Roûmieu-Lacoste ‘Cuvée Classique’ Sauternes.

After that we had coffee, which came with caramel popcorn – or as we called them, “Lolly Gobble Bliss Bombs”.

All in all, RB&G is a fantastic experience.  The name should give it away, but it does lean heavily toward the “grill” side of things.  So in a nutshell I had the poshest, tastiest, nicest, bestest steak and vegetables ever*.  I would recommend it to anyone as a very special dining experience.

Rockpool Bar & Grill

66 Hunter St

Sydney   NSW   2000

http://www.rockpool.com/sydney/bar-and-grill/

Visited: Saturday  - Dinner Service 

* Whilst this may be true, Robert has stolen this quote from Bronlynn - TIFFIN

Miso Glazed Eggplant with Sesame

I always buy eggplants, full of good intentions and at the end of the week, they are often still sitting in the crisper.  Eggplants are one of my faves but they do take some time to cook.  Most Mediterranean or Middle Eastern dishes need a longer cooking time to bring out their best.  I don't always have that time to spare.  The treatment of eggplant in Asian dishes is often speedier such as this dish for Nasu Dengaku or Miso Glazed Eggplant.  This makes it perfect for a week night meal served as is or with an accompaniment of Japanese Soba (buckwheat) noodles to soak up the juices.

Miso Glazed Eggplant w Sesame

Ingredients

• 2 large eggplants
• 3 tbsp miso paste (any colour)
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbsp water (or Sake if you have it)
• 1 large spring onion, sliced
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds

Method

• Cut eggplants into quarters, lengthwise. Slash the eggplant flesh 3 or 4 times across each piece.
• Place eggplant pieces in a large plastic bag, close loosely and cook on high in microwave for 5 minutes.  This starts to steam the eggplants and speeds up cooking later.
• Whilst the eggplant is steaming, place miso, vinegar, sugar, mirin and water in a small saucepan and heat gently to combine.  Turn off heat and set aside.
• Remove eggplant to a baking tray lined with foil (grease foil).  Place cut side up (skin underneath) and splash & drizzle sesame oil evenly over eggplant.
• Place under a hot grill to further cook and brown eggplant.  You do not want the eggplant to burn so if it is browning too quickly, place tray on a lower shelf or turn heat down.  This should take around 7 - 10 minutes but it really depends on your grill.  The eggplant is ready when it is browned and cooked through.  It should be soft but not completely collapsed.
• Remove eggplant and place in greased baking dish.  Spoon miso topping evenly over eggplant, making sure that there is some in the slashes.  You need the baking dish rather than tray so you can catch the juices.
• Sprinkle with sesame seeds and sliced spring onion.
• Return to grill and cook until sauce is bubbling and caramelised - around 10 minutes but make sure you watch it so it doesn't catch and burn.

• 2 eggplants will serve 4 as an entree or accompaniment or 2 as a main course. 

Well, I'm off to Bali tomorrow so I hope to have lots of Bite Sized Adventures to share with you soon.