Culinary Historians of the Philippines (CHOP): Food Tour, Ubud Food Festival, Bali, Indonesia, June 5, 6 & 7, 2015

Six CHOP members plus one friend (Pia Lim-Castillo, Regee Newport, Nanette Medina, Beth Romualdez, Ige Ramos, Ginny Roces-De Guzman, and Ginny Mata) traveled to Ubud in Bali, to participate in the inaugural Ubud Food Festival, a three-day celebration of the richness and diversity of Indonesian culinary culture, serving up a program rich in food mythology, authenticity and taste. The program featured at least 15 Cooking Demonstrations; 15 free Food Forums; 12 Workshops and Masterclasses; 14 Special Events, Book Launches and Wine Tastings; 2 guided visits to the local Markets; 2 Film Screenings; and a memorable Closing Night Party.

L to R: Nanette Medina, Ginny Roces-De Guzman, Pia Lim-Castillo, Beth Romualdez, Regee Newport, and Ige Ramos. (Missing from the photo: Ginny Mata)

The pass that got you into all the events.

There were so many events on offer that it was not possible to take in all of them, so one had to pick and choose which ones to go to. The events took place primarily at two venues, the Indus Restaurant and Taman Baca, both within easy walking distance from each other. The Food Festival was impressively well-organized.

The schedule of events -- so many were on offer that it was not possible to attend all of them.

The sponsors and collaborators.

Various photos of the two main venues:

All the cooking demos were held here.

All the Food Forums were held here.

Entrance to Indus Restaurant.

Part of the grounds at Taman Baca.

Walkway to the Food Forum venue, at Taman Baca.

Entrance to the Food Court at Taman Baca.

JUNE 5, Friday - 1^st day of the Festival

9:00 am - Cooking Demo by Chef Bara Pattiradjawane (Ambonese Papeda (sago porridge) and its traditional accompaniment, Ikan Kuah Kuning (turmeric-braised fish with native almonds), plus Kohy-Kohu. [We missed this first cooking demo because we went on a day trip to JogJakarta/ Borobudur yesterday, and our delayed flight back did not arrive until 2:00 this morning, so we slept in.]

10:00 am – Food Forum: Sri Owen, “A Love for Good Food” - Sri Owen is a culinary icon in Indonesia. Her life has been spent spreading the well-spiced gospel of Indonesian cuisine, and has published several cookbooks internationally. She discussed her culinary career, from learning to cook from her grandmother in a small town in West Sumatra, to London, where she moved with her English husband, and where she now lives. She spoke about her love of good Indonesian food which was the foundation of her wanting to cook well; and about her belief in staying faithful to heritage recipes that meet today's trends; the standardization of recipes (which can become difficult to achieve because of the differences in flavor of the same ingredient grown in different parts of the country or the world); the standardization of names of dishes worldwide (also difficult because often something is lost in the translation of the name; and adapting one's way of presenting food in a foreign land to the way the locals are used to, but without changing your way of cooking. She also spoke about "Riestoffel" which she believes should be taken out of Indonesian offering because it's not an original Indonesian dish but was introduced to the country by the Dutch during colonial times.

Sri Owen (right) with interlocutor Bondan Winarno, a food critic and writer.

10:30 am -- Cooking Demo by Chef Chris Salans of Mozaic Restaurant (Mango Sorbet and Cystalized Tempe in a Sweet Kluwek Sauce). [We missed this cooking demo because of the conflict in time with the Sri Owen Forum.]

11:30 am – Lunch at Taman Baca Food Court -- we walked over to the food court next door, where a large array of healthful foods and drinks were on offer.

12:00 noon – Cooking Demo by Chef Made Lugra (Grilled Fish Satay on Lemongrass Sticks), where he cooked Nasi Kuning (Turmeric Fried Rice) and showed how to twirl the seasoned, pounded fish meat around the lemongrass sticks. [Note the banana leaf "bowl" and coconut frond "spoon."]

1:30 pm – Cooking Demo by Chef Kevindra (Kevin) Somentari, who made a dish called "Ayam Tuturga," or Braised Chicken in Coconut Milk and Spices) using his grandmother’s Mandonese recipe. Served with yellow fried rice (Nasi Kuning).

With the very young Chef Kevin, all of 22 and already successful.

3:00 pm – Cooking demo by Chef Eelke Plasmeijir (right, in photo below), owner/chef of Locavore Restaurant; he made poached lobster with a mushroom foam.

There's a tiny piece of lobster somewhere in there.

CHOP in the audience.

4:00 pm – Food Forum – Food as Medicine – Diana Von Cranach, Arif Springs -- Balinese traditional cuisine draws on a garden of powerful healing ingredients that are the basis of modern pharmaceuticals. Masters of Balinese Raw Food discussed an old-meets-new menu of Balinese foods that revive and restore.

JUNE 6, Saturday - 2^nd Day of the Festival

9:00 am – Cooking Demo by Chef Nahung Rasutiun on Batak cuisine of North Sumatra; he created a twist on Pinadar black sauce with prawns and exotic spices.

CHOP shows appreciation of the demo.

10:00 am – Food Forum, “Everything is Enak” or “Delicious” -- How do Food Writers Avoid Culinary Cliches? Bondan Winarno, who pioneered food writing in Indonesia; Sonia _______; and Tria _____ from Femina Magazine, a "service" magazine [the missing last names will be provided later]. The forum covered a wide range of topics about food writing, including (1) the stigma about food writing as "below" academic writing; (2) the difference between a "lifestyle" magazine and a "service" magazine (in the former, you visit a restaurant and you write about the food and the chef; in the latter, you write about the health benefits of foods and how one can access such foods in a way where you can connect with the reader); (3) how the speakers go about writing their pieces, especially how they decide on the first sentence of their piece; (4) how to gain credibility and build your reputation as a writer; and (5) how to target your audience so your book will sell. [Sorry, no photos for this one.]

11:00 am – Cooking Demo by award-winning Pastry Chef Janice Wong, who made an ice cream confection, and distributed samples of her hand-made chocolate candies.

12:00 noon -- Cooking demo by Chef Jon Priadi, “Slow-Braised Duck” inspired by Indonesia’s travelling cuisine, the spice route of the Malacca Straits, and the inventiveness of ‘mash-up’ dishes; assisted by his Anthropologist wife, Dr. Angie Bexley.

With Chef John Priadi and his Anthropologist wife, Dr. Angie Bexley.

1:30 pm – Cooking demo by Chef Mandif Warokka – he was supposed to demo a melt-in-your-mouth rack of lamb, but he cooked an unremarkable noodle soup dish instead.

3:00 pm – Cook-Off between the famous Malaysian Celebrity Chef Wan and Indonesian Chef Rahung Nasution, the former cooking Chicken Rendang, and the latter, Beef Rendang. Judges were picked from the audience (me & Ige included), who declared Chef Rahung the hands-down winner. The room rocked, because Chef Wan brought the house down with his funny narratives and comments. At one point, Sri Owen pointedly asked Chef Wan why he was claiming Rendang as a traditional Malaysian dish when it really was originally Indonesian; Chef Wan took it in good humor. At the taste judging, Sri remarked that Chef Wan’s dish was just Chicken Curry and not Rendang, and again he took it in good humor.

JUNE 7, Sunday - 3^rd & Last Day of the Festival

6:00 am – Early morning market in Ubud; we bought Indonesian ingredients to take back to Manila; Pia, Ginny and Nanette bought stone mortars and pestles, the same kind that the Chefs used in the Cooking Demos at the Festival. The large ones, which they bought, weighed at least 10 kilos!

The girls buying their stone-solid cobek (mortar) and ulek-ulek (pestle).

Ige helping the girls plot their strategy for bargaining.

9:00 am – Cooking demo by chef Dave Pynt of Burnt Ends, a Singaporean grillhouse, who cooked Pork Tomahawk (grilled pork) – we were late and caught only the tail-end of the demo. [Sorry, no photos for this one.]

10:30 am – Cooking demo by Chef Ryan Clift of the Tippling Club in Singapore, a fine dining restaurant. He made onion rings inspired by Pringles, using a Thermomix, liquid nitrogen, and methyl cellulose—the breading was made of onion-flavored flour, egg, and shredded krupuk (fish crisps). Also, wagyu beef slices cooked sous vide; he showed us a tomato imported from Japan for $15 per piece, and which was already loaded with salt that it had absorbed from the soil. All in all, his spiel on molecular gastronomy flew over our heads!

2:00 pm – Masterclass in Food Photography, Sally May Mills at The Elephant Restaurant

On hindsight, the session was more a tutorial on Instagram, and she spent a lot of time talking about the advantages of using a good smartphone for photographing food over using an SLR camera. Two hours were just too short for a comprehensive tutorial -- the only two aspects of taking food photos we learned was (1) using a white sheet (cloth or paper) to bounce off the light into the food and reduce shadows; and (2) using odd numbers of items on the dish would look more interesting than even numbers.