Bali Baby

Let me open the door for you to the wonderful, unusual, fascinating world of the babies of Bali... 

In Bali a child is believed to be a reincarnation of his deceased ancestors and is thus looked upon as a god. Offerings are made during pregnancy to ensure the upcoming god’s well-being and after birth the placenta and the umbilical cord (representing the child’s spirit guardian brothers) are buried in the family compound. 

The smaller the child, the holier he is and the closer to heaven. Babies are not considered to be “human” until they are 210 days old at which time a ceremony is performed, along with the necessary offerings. Until then they are called Idewa (”god”). 

Balinese believe that anything below (including the ocean) carries negative connotations and is an evil matter. This conviction cause them not to permit children to crawl on all fours, and before a child is three months old he may not even touch the earth and is carried everywhere. 

Once babies turn 210 days old, they are named individually. The full name of every Balinese not only indicates his caste but also his sequence of birth in a family. That is to say, the first four children to be born are called Wayan, Nyoman, Made and Ketut.  After all these names are used up, the rotation starts all over again. Believe you me this was such a revelation for us… we finally solved the mystery of keeping on meeting “Wayans” and “Nyomans”… 

To make matters worse, the parents’ names change after the birth of each child. They instantly become called “Father or Mother of X”. Astonishingly, in Bali people are identified by their descendants rather than by their ancestors to reflect that time flows from the present to the future rather than from the past to the present. 

A child is never beaten as it is believed it will damage his tender soul or drive his soul from his body. He is not considered responsible for his actions because as they say “his mind is still undeveloped” and it is the god within him that acts through his body. At home there is no regular discipline and no pampering; the parents do not intimidate their child bur rather coax him into obedience as an equal. Nothing is hidden from children, they listen attentively to adult conversations and they know facts about which an adolescent in the West is totally ignorant. In line with this custom, babies are fed the Balinese peppery food as soon as they are weaned and will not touch food without spices. 

From the time the child can walk, he is left to himself and falls in the care of other children. Small girls know how to take care of babies with the same proficiency as their mothers and it is common to see babies carried on the hips of girls only slightly older. The sight of child crying is extremely rare. He learns early to be self-sufficient and is free to wander all over the village and to do as he pleases. Frequently the father more demonstrative than the mother and it is common to see a man with his child in his arms, taking him everywhere and talking to him as if he were a grown-up. A boy assists his father in the work at home and in the fields and cares for the cattle. Little girls learn from their mothers to cook, weave, thresh rice and make offerings. 

The independence and lack of pampering may explain the well-mannered seriousness and the self-sufficiency of these kids but if you are intrigued about the astonishingly well-behaved nature of Balinese children, I strongly recommend you to read The Continuum Concept by Jean Liedloff.  This researcher visited Bali in 1992 and compared her findings from the Yequana people (in Venezuela) with the Balinese customs. 

Source: I learned so much partly thanks to Island of Bali, by Miguel Covarrubias, a highly recommended work that depicts in depth Balinese customs and traditions.  

A salty trip

Amed is a once-remote village on a beautiful bay in Eastern Bali with waters so clear that coral and fish can be seen with the naked eye. The pace of life here is slow and the coastal scenery stunning. 

This is the most recent tourist development area in Bali, now well known for diving and snorkeling. Although only a few years ago that it was a solitary village inhabited only by fishermen and sea-salt processors, nowadays tourism is growing and salt production is declining. We traveled here in search of the salt makers as we are developing a very special product derived from their crystals. 

Salt production is very hard work and the painstaking method used in Amed consists of the following steps:

1. Take water from the sea and pour it into prepared soil fields. The salt workers carry the water in double-bucket shoulder poles.

2. Smooth the soil in the fields to allow even drying. Allow salt water to dry / evaporate for three days.

3. Rake the dried, salty soil paddies to break them up.

4. Put broken up soil into wood funnels.

5. Pack down the soil by walking on it inside the funnels.

6. Collect more sea water and pour it over the soil in the funnels.

7. Allow the sea water to seep down through the soil. This soil works as a natural filter. 

8. Collect the filtered salty water from below the cones.

9. Pour this water into the drying trays (“palungan”) lined up in rows along the beach.

10. Allow to dry and evaporate for 3-4 days. The salt is then scraped out and put in baskets. 

This technique produces a lower yield than others but the result is a salt prized for its flavor. that caught our attention and trigger a new idea for Cuca. All we can say for now you will love our salty little plan. 

Plateful

This week is being especially productive and it feels great to see we are definitely moving forward despite the relaxed pace of the island. Our most recent achievement was to select the tableware for Cuca. Since the structure of our menu is finalized, we knew exactly what to look for. We had decided to use ceramic ware as it feels warmer and more organic, the precise sensation we want to convey. Furthermore, ceramic offers more room for creativity as it allows different texture, color, finish, shape, design and even engraving. 

Bali has quite a few artisan ceramic producers and we visited some of them to learn about their process, compare their styles and explore the possibilities of customizing our plates. Although it was difficult to choose a manufacturer based only on their stunning products, we needed flexibility as our quantities are quite low (we are using different plates to serve each dish) so we made up our mind and headed to Jenggala to start selecting plates. 


Jenggala has been established for more than 35 years and this is important as we need them to be around in the future for our yearly stock replacements. They work mainly with stoneware (high-fired at a temperature well above 2000 degrees Celsius) to make their products chip resistant and suitable for a heavy usage. We spent a whole day in their biggest showroom among beautiful pieces and endless options and at the end we left the shop tired but satisfied with our choices. Production will have to start soon as the factory needs at least 2 months to produce and deliver our plates. 

We are now waiting for samples and can't wait to see Kevin’s food on them!

Let there be rice

Once upon a time, the Balinese for food had only the juice of sugar-cane. Wisnu, the god of fertility and water, felt pity for them and came down and raped Mother Earth to fertilize her. She then gave birth to rice but this still did not solve the problem as rice was still unavailable to humans. Wisnu intervened once again and forced Indra, Lord of the Heavens, to teach men how to grow rice.  This is the story of how rice was born, a gift from the gods of earth and water.

Having such a dramatic origin, it is not surprising that life for the Balinese revolves around rice. The most memorable landscapes on the island are the gorgeous rice paddies and from planting time until harvest the growth of rice is watched with as much attention as that of a child. Bali’s scenery evolves regardless of the seasons with the life of the rice: from flooded fields reflecting the clouds, to jade colored freshly replanted shoots, to the swaying green or robust gold of a mature crop. Along this cycle men and women take specific turns: men plant it, women harvest it. 

Since a farmer is unable to build and maintain elaborated irrigation systems that compensate for the island’s mountainous nature, only through cooperation with neighbors have the Balinese become known as the most efficient rice-growers and recently been awarded UNESCO World Heritage Status for their “subak”, an extremely efficient use of irrigation water (read entry from Unesco official site). The "subak" is  a communal association consisting of growers, tenants, and sharecroppers acting as a sort of local "water board," that controls the distribution of irrigation water and organize joint work projects to build and maintain dams, canals, tunnels and aqueducts. In existence in Bali since at least A.D. 896, the "subak" is also responsible for achieving optimal growing conditions and it reflects the philosophical concept of Tri Hita Karana, which brings together the realms of the spirit, the human world and nature (I will talk more about this concept in future posts). 

Although the majority of rice cultivated on the island is white, reddish-brown rice and black glutinous rice are also grown, and even yellow rice (dyed with the turmeric root) is produced on festive occasions. 

Rice is the centerpiece of every family’s meal in Bali: it is consumed for breakfast (boiled rice-flour dumplings sweetened with palm sugar syrup), for lunch (steamed white rice with vegetables and very little meat) and the leftover rice is often transformed into Nasi Goreng (fried rice with various savoury ingredients). 

In this island of Gods, man lives off rice and as legend states his body and soul are built from it. This explains the deep rooted reverence and respect Bali holds for its rice and its farming. 

Hot but good

Sambal is basically a chili-based sauce used as a condiment in quite a few Asian countries. In the Indonesian archipelago alone, there are as many as 300 varieties of sambal. Its intensity ranges from mild to painfully hot and lovers of spicy food are always opinionated in choosing the right sambal to go with their meal. It is essential it has the right flavor and texture and specially the right amount of kick. 

As many other regions, Bali has its own version: “sambal matah” (matah means “raw”). This condiment is extremely fresh and aromatic and adds a well-balanced power to any dish. Below you will find a good and easy recipe for you to try. If you cannot find the roasted dried shrimp paste in your supermarket, substitute it with miso paste; they are not the same but at least your sambal matah won’t be missing its unique salty fermented flavor. Good luck!

What shall we wear?

The agenda of the day yesterday was to meet up with the designer who is going to help us with Cuca uniforms. He has worked for big names here in Bali and we were looking forward to share with him our concept and have him dress us. 

We chatted about the style we had in mind and how much we value functionality in the end product. It hardly took him a few seconds to start drawing non-stop and together we came up with several interesting ideas. He not only draws and creates custom-made models but also designs the print of the fabrics so the result is meant to be something really unique. 

One of the many things I loved the most about him is that he keeps in mind the shapes of the people who are going to wear his creations and only proposes what is going to make them feel great. I could not resist myself to test this ability and I ended up trying some of the samples he suggested. Not wanting to reveal much more, I think we are in good hands!

Harry giving free rein to his imagination	Harry's previous designs
Our  first sketches	Harry unstoppable!

Survival food

Bali offers a superb array of fresh produce as a result of its volcanoes occasionally fertilizing the land with ash, rivers watering the rice fields and the sun gently kissing the crops. Despite the variety available in the island, daily meals here are not sociable affairs and the Balinese normally eat quickly, silently and alone sitting on the floor and using their right hand as the left one is thought to be unclean (like in many other countries in this part of the world). Usually rice and the accompanying dishes are cooked in the morning, after a trip to the market, and left in the kitchen for the family to eat whenever hungry.

In general and compared to Javanese food, Balinese dishes are more pedas (spicy) and less manis (sweet). Typical ingredients of everyday food are:

• Rice: steamed or boiled, it is the staple food of the Balinese and base on their meals. Although the majority of rice cultivated on the island is white, red and black glutinous rice are also grown. For breakfast it is eaten in the form of boiled rice-flour dumplings sweetened with palm sugar syrup and freshly grated coconut. 
• A variety of vegetables, most of which are gathered wild: young shoots of trees found in the family compound (starfruit for example), young fern tips, immature fruits such as jackfruit and papaya are also used as vegetables. 
• Mature coconut: grated and added to vegetables, fried with seasonings to make a condiment or its grated flesh squeezed with water to make coconut milk for sauces.
• Very small amounts of meat, poultry or fish. 
• Crunchy extras such as peanuts, cryspy-fried shallots, fried tempeh (a fermented soybean cake) or many types of crisp wafer (krupuk)
• Starchy foods such us as cassava, sweet potatoes and corn that provide a variation of flavor to rice.
• Spicy condiments or sambals with chilly being the star ingredient.

The most popular sea products are ikan teri (a dried and salted anchovy) and sea turtles, now difficult to obtain but still eaten on festive occasions for special ceremonies. Although the seas bathing the island are rich in fish Balinese are not too keen on eating it, maybe due to the fact that mountains are traditionally regarded as the reign of the gods and in contrast the sea is believed to host the evil spirits.

Beef is very seldom eaten although certain breeds of cow are successfully raised in Bali. Generally Hindu people don't eat beef as the cow is considered holy. It is believed that cows were used as the form of transport for the god Siva and in view of this the "Pemangku" (priests) do not eat their meat. Probably derived from this, most Balinese feel uncomfortable about eating beef as they think it will give them an allergy such as getting an itchy skin or headaches. But regardless of the religious reasons, for many beef is just simply too expensive to buy so by selling the cows instead of eating them villagers can buy other much cheaper products.Pork and duck are the favorite meats, usually stuffed with spices before roasting. 

In contrast with the above, food prepared for festive occasions is elaborate, often exquisitely decorated and eaten communally. I will be going deeper into these delicacies as I get to try them...

NOTE: 

Marvin Harris, an American anthropologist, examined the cultural and material roots of dietary restrictions in many cultures. Regarding the avoidance of consuming cows among Hindus, Harris explained that in India cows were more valuable alive than dead given the fact that they provided key services to the community: they were draught animals, they gave milk and their dung was used as fuel, fertilizer and flooring. The temptation to kill them in times of drought or famine was fought by a strong religious taboo and thus they became holy animals.

La traducción en español la podéis encontrar aquí.

¡Gracias, Antonio!

Announcement

They are alive!

We have lately been working on choosing fonts for Cuca. This seems an easy enterprise but get into it and you will start seeing a new world of possibilities… and with each of them unique complications.

The first step was to choose a corporate font for our business cards, flyers, advertisements, etc. It was obviously important that this font agreed with our logo so there was much debate to select the best one and define its scope (shall we use it only for titles? Or for our tagline? And what about using it in the menu for our signature dishes?). There are so many fonts available… Reading about their description is overwhelming: warm, cool, comforting, approachable, artistic, intellectual, effective, modern, clean, trustworthy… After a while you see life in these fonts!!! But then they eventually become all blurred and you just want to give up and simply use Arial…

If this wasn’t difficult enough, we then had to choose a font for online platforms: web, blog, etc. There is then a new set of factors to take into consideration. First of all, we had to bear in mind that our target audience would use different screen sizes, Operating Systems, browsers… so the font had to be available and easy to read in all type of computers. Shall we then stick to a Sans font even if we had chosen to print on a Serif one? And what about the size? And for the headlines and titles?

Well, the hundred decisions have been made and we are crossing our fingers hoping that you love our choices as much as we do. The mystery will be revealed soon… stay tuned!

Say Cheese....

Kevin had always wanted to have a small photo studio where he could take and log photos of his creations as he develops them and thus keep them organized and easily accessible. As we will need our own photos to market Cuca, we decided to get the studio done as soon as possible and we sought the advice of Raymond, the amazing photographer who is also helping us with our documentary. We bought the equipment we needed and we put it together. We absolutely love the light tent Raymond recommended, it is very easy to assemble and functions very well. It comes with several backgrounds so you can play with different colors as a contrast to the food in front. Raymond and Suyanto have been testing it and Kevin enjoyed sharing his creativity and food styling skills. Will show you the results soon!

Assembling the light tent

Testing the light

Testing Kevin's food styling skills