Biting into Bali

For those who haven’t read about my Bali trip from the beginning, be sure to catch up.

After sleeping in my bed the second night in Bali, I had a chance to stretch out and get some good sleep.

On this day I had planned a cooking class with one of the best-reviewed classes, Paon. I thought this was a nice way to not only taste the Bali cuisines but to also actively learn how to prepare them.

The cooking class started off with a tour of their local market where fruits, vegetables, spices, and apparel is sold. I have been to a few outdoor markets but I have never been to a market that had this many levels. I was starting to think it was on us to pick out the ingredients of what we were cooking that day, I’m glad I was wrong.

The Paon cooking class is organized by a married couple and we made our way to their house/family temple after the market.

The husband did a wonderful job explaining all the ingredients and how to prepare them. Our group had about 9/10 people and that was perfect when it was time to start cooking. When the food is prepared every ingredient is cut by hand…there wasn’t a food processor in sight. He told us all that this is how their dishes are always prepared. I can’t imagine preparing half these dishes and not having help with the preparation. Chopping, dicing, and slicing was not a game.

With all the prep work involved with the fresh ingredients and spices, it was definitely worth it. Everything tasted amazing and I plan to try these dishes on my own.

A couple of times, we went to Jambali, a Jamaican restaurant within walking distance from our villa. We had gone our first night and was hooked on the reggae fries we had shared as an appetizer. The second night we wanted to go back and order our own fries, to not share lol. We also wanted to try other items on the menu as we had learned the night before she was closing the restaurant at the end of the week.

We met the owner,  Mrs. Michele Bailey. Mrs. Bailey is from Jamaica, lives in Washington D.C., but had settled in Bali for the past 2 years. She is a chef that has worked at high-end establishments and she was currently fulfilling her dream of owning a restaurant.

As we finished up dinner Mrs. Bailey came to see how we were doing. I told her to have a seat and talk with us. It was as though we had already met… our conversation had given me so much affirmation, motivation, inspiration and a greater appreciation for life. At that moment some things that I had doubts, concerns, and hesitation on, no longer had room in my life. It was truly an ah-hah moment and I loved it.

I look forward to another trip to Bali. I believe there is so much more to discover. Has anyone else traveled to Bali? If so, please share your most memorable moments.