Sitting down to write - or blog - on an empty stomach is never a recipe for success. Luckily, inspiring food abounds in Indonesia.
The first ever Ubud Food Festival will take place this June 5-7 in Ubud, Bali, so it feels like a good time to begin a series on IndoVisible about the joys of eating across the archipelago. From the same team who brings us the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival comes the premiere international event celebrating Indonesian food.
Perhaps I'll be inspired to launch IndoEdible!
Stay tuned here for yummy tidbits. Though an 'intuitive' in the kitchen, I may even offer up recipes.
In the meanwhile, here's a savory bit about Slow Food Bali, the local incarnation of the international movement that supports good, clean and fair food. This was published in the Gratitude issue of Inspired Bali magazine.
Selamat makan!
Good food & gratitude
By Melinda Chickering
When you sit down to eat, what do you do before the first bite hits your palate? Some people pray, asking divine blessings for their food, giving thanks for the meal and those who share it with them. Some offer their own blessings to the food or breathe in a bountiful waft of aroma, preparing their bodies for the pleasure and nourishment to come. Some gather together at a harvest table to share food with family and friends while others tend to eat alone, perhaps sitting close to the earth, as is traditional in Balinese culture.
Some of us merely sit down and dig in. We may even forget to chew the first few bites as we race to quiet a rumbling stomach or finish the meal and get back to work. If you’re like me, you may have neglected to even sit down before taking the first bite of your most recent meal.
A movement to slow down and savor good food, appreciate its role in our lives and foster clearer connections between producers and consumers of food began in Italy in the 1980s. This movement, a reaction to the increasing popularity and prevalence of fast food, became Slow Food, an international grassroots organization with convivia in 150 countries and over 100,000 members worldwide.
Slow Food’s values can be summed up in three words – good, clean and fair. We all know good food tastes good and smells good. It pleases the senses and comprises an important part of our local culture. Clean food is produced and consumed bearing in mind the health and wellbeing of our bodies, our planet and our fellow travelers including animals. Fair food can be accessed by consumers at a reasonable price, with producers benefiting from sustainable prices and conditions. Consumers have such a strong role to play in promoting and preserving good, clean and fair food through their purchasing and eating choices that Slow Food calls consumers “co-producers”.
Choosing more locally-sourced over imported food brings fresher food to your table and better prices for both producers and co-producers, while also reducing your food supply’s carbon footprint. Fresher food tastes better and retains more nutrition than processed food, that has taken a long journey from farm to plate.
We are blessed in Bali to enjoy a wide variety of high quality local food. The year-long growing season provides bountiful harvests of rice and vegetables, a constant supply of vibrant tropical fruit and deliciously unique nutritional power houses like cacao and moringa. Local cuisine includes vegetarian delights like urab and succulent traditions like babi guling. To drink, the island hosts some of the world’s most tantalizing Arabica coffee and a copious supply of revitalizing coconuts. We have much to be grateful for!
Bali’s culture has centered on agriculture for at least a millennium, but it is now shifting in tandem with economic imperatives. The booming tourism economy heightens demand for land and water, rendering these resources increasingly dear both for Balinese people and visitors. Whether in Bali for a short or long stay, there are many ways you can show your appreciation and play a positive role as a co-producer on the island. Here are a few:
Buy food directly from producers by patronizing farmers markets.
By eliminating the middle men, you get fresher food to your table and higher revenues to food producers. Co-producers may get better prices in some cases, too; at least you know you are investing in fresh food rather than lengthy supply chains and flashy marketing techniques.
You can also buy directly at local traditional markets, which pop up daily all around Bali, so long as you get up early in the morning! Trading usually opens in the wee hours before sunrise, and you can not beat the prices so long as you are ready, willing and able to bargain.
Grow your own food.
With plenty of moisture, sunlight and green-thumbed friends to help you, Bali is a great place to learn how to produce your own food. You can pick up seeds or seedlings at a farmers market and follow your instincts or take a permaculture training course with IDEP Foundation (www.idepfoundation.org).
Dispose of waste responsibly.
What does trash have to do with food? Believe it or not, those tasty morsels from the kitchen did not appear there magically. Food is the edible part of a cycle that includes waste, decomposition, nourished soil and cleansing water, growth of new plants and healthy animals, which then become food again. Waste management is a growing concern in Bali as the island’s population of locals and visitors both continue to boom. Many river ravines and road sides have become unfortunate informal waste dumps. Organic waste that can decompose and return to the earth can be composted. You can learn how to compost from IDEP or Eco Bali (www.eco-bali.com).
You arrange to have inorganic solid waste picked up from your house by Eco Bali or from your business by Bali Recycling (www.balirecycling.com).
Join Slow Food Bali
The local convivium of food lovers who participate in the international Slow Food movement through local events and programs. Even if you are just passing through Bali, you might attend an event and perhaps be inspired to join your local convivium at home.
Patronize restaurants that serve good, clean and fair food, such as those participating in Slow Food Bali’s Snail of Approval program. Look for the red snail. If you find a restaurant in Bali that you think deserves the Snail of Approval but does not yet participate, you can nominate it for the Snail of Approval!
Educate yourself about Bali’s food, culture and environment.
The subak system of irrigation and farmers’ organization in Bali has been recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage. This international recognition for subak, farmers and the Balinese traditional philosophy of Tri Hita Karana may contribute to greater appreciation, both within and outside Bali, for the underpinnings of a healthy and sustainable food culture. Without that appreciation, Bali’s beautiful rice paddy landscapes and delicate coral reef underwater ecosystems, as well as its unique culture, will be in jeopardy.
Learn more about the subak system and its pivotal role in Balinese culture by reading either of anthropologist Stephen Lansing’s books A Perfect Order or Priests and Programmers. Another fine read is the recipe-laden memoir of restaurateur Janet De Neefe, Fragrant Rice.
You can also simply take a walk in almost any part of Bali and learn about the island’s subak system, ceremonies and food culture. Experiential learning around these parts will give you plenty to chew on.
Melinda Chickering is a proud member of Slow Food Bali (www.slowfoodbali.com) and eats about three to six times a day.
Contributing Editor for Inspired Bali, Melinda became a journalist and freelance writer in 2002. Living in Indonesia since 2008 has afforded Melinda myriad opportunities to explore her favorite topics in writing—including the nexus of culture, nature and economics as well as that of the head, the heart and the flesh.
You can order Melinda’s book Becoming Home: A Memoir of Birth in Bali at the CreateSpace store (https://www.createspace.com/4946236) or Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Home-Memoir-Birth-Bali/dp/1502342332/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412042999&sr=1-2&keywords=Becoming+Home).
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