Our student group went to Keliki, the village near our resort, for an evening of preparing and cooking a traditional Balinese meal (followed of course, by eating said meal).  The kids were divided into groups and they made various dishes such as chicken with spices wrapped in leaves, chocolate made from scratch (grinding the coco beans down and on from there), corn fritters, banana fritters and vegetable dishes.

The setting was a traditional Balinese house, an open kitchen area, then tables of different work stations set around the edges of and in the middle of the courtyard.  The students enjoyed it, the guiding village chefs were friendly and patient and I have to say, the food was delicious!  Here are some snapshots of the preparations (again, I cannot show the students themselves – just the odd hand.)

the kitchen stove in action

Spices for the chicken dish

Fresh garlic, shallots, chillies,

grinding the spices

bringing and blending the flavours

Ground until it forms a paste

the paste is combined with chicken and wrapped in leaves

the steamer

chicken wraps being steamed

Late afternoon sunlight in the kitchen

grinding the corn

corn fritters – delicious!

Shaved coconut care of a piece of wood, a few nails and some labour!

the stove hard at work!

Our students also made dessert: banana fritters and chocolate sauce made from scratch!

cocoa beans

shelling and grinding the beans

sifting the ground beans

rice cakes, banana fritters with homemade chocolate sauce

Our meal! Absolutely delicious!

It was a fabulous evening and I highly recommend taking a cooking class, in Bali or any other country you visit. It’s a really nice way to meet local people, learn a skill and understand more about the food, culture and people you’re seeing.