Heavenly Babi Guling...

As days pass by we are getting to try different Balinese dishes. So far there is a stand out winner, one of the most popular delicacies in the island. The succulent Babi Guling is a stuffed suckling pig slowly roasted on a spit. “Guiling” means “to turn” and such the cooking methods involves a constant turning of the pig. A well-made babi guling requires a lot of skill and patience as the heat should be concentrated on the head and tail and not in the middle so as not to crack the skin of the stomach.

There is much controversy on who serves the best babi guling in Bali but for us it is difficult to believe that it can get any better than in Bapak Dobiel. This is undoubtedly a favourite among the locals (our friend Nyoman strongly recommended it to us) and it is still Pak Dobiel himself who cooks and serves the meal. The pigs are roasted early every morning on the back of the dining-room. 

  

As in most warungs (local restaurants), the dish is served as a bed of rice topped with different parts of the pig adding an array of exciting textures (crispy skin, slow roasted lean meat, cartilage, fried liver, cracklings, etc. ) and with some of the spiced veggies used to stuff the pig. 

One of the highlights of this dish is the soup... a broth made from the roasted flavorful bones left over from cleaning the pork meat. I have never tried anything so rich and tasty...

I am getting dizzy just from writing this post... I need to go... Guess where? J

Bahasa Indonesia

This is the official language in Indonesia, derived from Malay but with Javanese and Dutch influences. Although I had heard English was widely spoken in Bali, we have encountered many, many people we cannot communicate with, specially outside the tourist industry. They speak either Balinese (supposedly a language quite difficult to learn) or Bahasa as they come from other parts in Indonesia. I am ashamed to admit that after living for 9 years in Malaysia, I never put too much effort to learn Malay. I took a few courses but everyone spoke to me in English and furthermore I never consciously planned to stay in Malaysia for that long (let alone to move to Indonesia!) so my Malay is pretty basic. 

This time I am determined to not repeat the same mistake and I am everyday putting a bit of time to learn Bahasa. Being quite obsessed with linguistics, I find extremely interesting the logic behind this language… These are some examples that amuse me:

• Apa kabar? 

It is used as “How are you?” but literally means something like “What are the news?” The answer is "Kabar Baik", literally “The news are good”. It makes me smile every time I here it...

• Plurales

Guess how is the plural make? Overwhelming logic…

Anak = child Anak anak = children
Buku = book Buku buku = books

• Tenses

The Indonesian tenses make anyone learning a language like Spanish depressed… Look at their simplicity…

       PRESENT:
             Saya makan ayam (= I eat chicken)

       PRESENT PERFECT: with sudah
             Saya sudah makan ayam (= I ate or have eaten chicken)

I absolutely love the use of this “sudah”… They apply it whenever they find that something must undoubtedly  happen. For example, every day I get a “Sudah kawin?” = "Are you married yet?" Or a “Sudah punya anak?” = "Do you have children yet?" . The answers consider satisfactory are amazing: you either answer “Sudah” ("Already) or “belum” ("Not yet…").

      FUTURE TENSE: with akan
            Saya akan makan ayam (= I will eat chicken)

      PRESENT CONTINUOUS: with sedang
            Saya sedang makan ayam (= I am eating chicken)

      PAST TENSE: with kemarin
            Saya makan ayam kemarin (= I ate chicken yesterday)

Verbs do not have conjugations (persons), tenses, modes... and they are still effective!

I will tell you more about Bahasa in posts to come!

The winner

Today this post is dedicated to Chee, the hero of the day. Chee is Kevin’s right hand and has been with him for 5 years, first in Malaysia and later in Singapore. He also followed us to Madrid when Kevin participated in Madrid Fusion 2011 and did a great job cooking under the pressure of being observed by some of the most famous chefs in the world.

Last year Kevin heard of the program “ICEX Training of Young Professionals in Spanish Gastronomy” (a scholarship to live in Spain for 9 months learning about Spanish foods and cuisine and working at Michelin Restaurants) and did what he could to get Chee selected to participate: he nominated him, filled up all the paperwork required, even took him to the Embassy of Spain to submit it. Kevin always thought Chee deserved this opportunity and was delighted when he got chosen to represent Singapore.

For these last 9 months Chee has studied Spanish (in Salamanca!!!) and has traveled everywhere in Spain to learn about Spanish gastronomy. Last night took place the final competition among the 11 participating young chefs from around the world in which they had to create a dish that captures the taste of Spain. Chee’s dish was called “Sobre de Mar” (Envelop of the Sea) and consisted of a whole, deboned salmorete (fish) stuffed with baby squid, almonds, pickled onions and served on a bed of ajoblanco.

Probably by now you have guessed that Chee won the competition and Kevin is now a proud mentor, smiling while reading about the judges praise for his protégé. Congratulations, Chee!