Author lifts lid on Bali's best bites

Author lifts lid on Bali's best bites

Andrew Charles, Contributor/Denpasar

Bali Unveiled: The Secrets of Balinese Cuisine
Heinz von Holzen, Timesone.com, 2004
ISBN: 9812326979

Many people in Bali and elsewhere will be delighted to read this
book because they will have already sampled the delectable fare
offered in Heinz von Holzen's restaurant, Bumbu Bali in Tanjung
Benoa, which is generally regarded as the only truly authentic
Balinese restaurant in the whole of the island.

Many have tried to copy the concept and one restaurant in Ubud
has even taken the same name but has not managed to achieve the
same standard.

After seven years of running Bumbu Bali and having already
produced a very good book on Balinese cuisine, the author and his
team have recently produced their latest guide to local food,
Bali Unveiled: The Secrets of Balinese Cuisine. Much research has
gone into this project, including a year of working and cooking
with Balinese people in their homes to ensure authenticity.

This fully illustrated 208-page hard cover publication is
filled with not only 100 of Bali's favorite dishes, but also with
many anecdotes about the everyday life and food culture of the
Balinese and this alone makes very interesting reading.

Together with American author and Balinese cultural authority,
Fred B. Eiseman, who has written several books on Bali's culture,
Heinz von Holzen was able to discover many of the secrets this
fabulous cuisine has to offer.

Both beginners and experienced cooks alike will find it a
pleasure to flip through the pages to gain a fascinating insight
into Balinese cooking. Learn about the food, the culture, the
usage of the many sacred and unusual spices and the preparation
of the many dishes including delicacies such as Honeycomb Salad,
Mushrooms Grilled in Banana Leaves and, of course, the famous
Roast Suckling Pig and Roast Duck in Banana leaf. There is even a
section on how to cook rice, which everyone thinks they know
about, but be prepared to learn some alternative methods.

The book is divided into various food categories and each
section is beautifully illustrated with photographs taken by the
author depicting everyday life in Bali; it is apparent that his
artistic skills are not confined just to the kitchen because the
pictures are exceptionally good.

Many of the photographs were taken during special ceremonies
either within Bumbu Bali restaurant or while the team was
visiting villages to document the recipes and preparation of the
dishes for the book.

Heinz von Holzen claims that this attractive new book would
not have been possible without the expert assistance from the
team at Marshall Cavendish International Asia, in Singapore who
spared no effort to make this a world class publication but he is
being too modest. Admittedly, a good publisher can make a huge
difference but only when the basic material is of high quality;
as is the case with this book

The recipes are very easy to follow and this is almost
certainly a result of the fact that the author runs regular
Balinese cookery classes, including visits to local markets, and
he is already used to explaining how to prepare all the dishes.

The instructions are more user-friendly than many recipes one
finds here in that proper measurements are given, which most
people will understand; none of these stupid 'cups' that mean
nothing to anyone outside of America! (With apologies to Betty
Crocker!).

Readers may want to pass by the recipes for snail soup with
spinach and the snail sate, which perhaps don't appeal to
everyone, and possibly the fish-head soup doesn't sound very
exciting either but the book tells the real story of Balinese
cuisine and it would have been unfair to leave out dishes simply
because westerners might find them rather strange.

One item which will never appear in any of Heinz von Holzen's
books or in his restaurant is turtle meat. He is a strong
adversary of the trade in turtles and runs a campaign to save
these poor creatures from extinction. He buys turtles in local
markets and returns them to the ocean, he also purchases turtle
eggs which he keeps until they hatch and then releases the babies
on a secluded beach so that they will have a chance to grow to
maturity.

The book is outstanding and well worth the price of Rp
325,000. It is available in bookshops throughout Indonesia but
readers in Bali can order it by telephone at (0361) 771256, with
delivery at no extra charge. It will soon be on sale in bookshops
around Asia, in Australia, Europe and the United States.