Food Good Indonesia

Colonial Cuisine & Molecular in South Jakarta is the epitome of contrast: old classics jazzed up by new techniques; antiquated interiors offset with cutting-edge mixology, and a chef at the helm who isn’t afraid to mix it up. 

It was a fiercely stormy night when we visited Colonial Cuisine & Molecular in Lippo Mall, Kemang. The wind threw lashings of rain in sheets against the tall buildings, which bore multiple lightning strikes throughout the course of dinner. The electric atmosphere enhanced the darkly sophisticated surroundings of the restaurant, and deterred none of the guests on the covered terrace outside.

In stark contrast, the big, ready smile of Chef Zulkamain Dahlan warmly welcomed us to our seats. Chef Zul, as he is known, cut his teeth partly in Jakarta but most notably at Joël Robuchon Restaurant in Singapore. It is clear his love of French cooking, as well as innovation in cuisine, comes from this experience. He is now dedicated to bringing this passion to Indonesia.

Looking around, the décor suggests nostalgia via modern sensibilities: tongue-in-cheek bowler hats on the staff; framed faux-antiques and doily-like tablecloths give it enough chichi to pass muster for even the fussiest of Jakartan hipsters. The showstopper is the chemistry lab on the bar: bells, whistles and test tubes are tinkered with by achingly cool mixologists, who can turn a margarita into a sphere of delicious drunken jelly at the drop of a hat (OK, in 20 minutes – but this is molecular mixology, after all!).

This supremely 21^st-century effort juxtaposed against the interior’s ‘colonial’ charm is the harbinger of the restaurant’s overarching themes: divergence and experimentation – something we discovered was thoroughly recognisable in the food.

We needed little persuasion from Chef Zul to try his Escargot à la Bourguignonne (Rp.120,000), whilst deliberating over the carefully-constructed menu. Two dozen snails is a generous portion for sharing, but the presentation was spot on in a piping-hot, authentic terracotta snail dish – imported along with the escargots. They were beautifully soft, and less garlicky than others I’ve had in the city; which was not necessarily a bad thing. But this dish, unique amongst the starters we tried, was a straightforward French classic – no sign of experimentation here: just successful execution.

Homemade Smoked Salmon Salad

Chef Zul changes his menu frequently, but each time assiduously preserves a certain element of surprise in his creations. A great example was one of our starters, a new menu item: Prawn & Crab Daikon Ravioli (Rp.110,000). This was an open-faced ‘ravioli’ in which the pasta was replaced by perfect discs of sweet, miso- and soy-marinated daikon. The use of a humble Asian veg contrasted against a fine, creamy remoulade of crab and shrimp meat is exactly the type of nuance Chef Zul is building his reputation on. The dish worked very well.

Alongside this we also enjoyed the Homemade Norwegian Smoked Salmon (Rp.110,000). This was simple, yet slightly elevated above your usual smoked salmon starter. It is smoked in-house, and came with sliced urap and a honey-mustard dressing on tangy watercress – interesting.

So far, the Plats Spéciaux section of the menu delivered on taste, so we continued the successful streak with Chef’s Zul recommendation of his Confit de Cuisse Canard (homemade French duck leg confit, Rp.195,000). He was – rightly so – proud of this dish. A lovingly, painstakingly prepared confit is a beautiful thing and this one was up to scratch. Chef Zul’s flair for the unexpected came through again in the tamarind-apple coulis that adorned the dish.

Chef Zul loves to sous-vide things. For the uninitiated, this technique involves sealing whatever it is you’re preparing in an airtight bag, which is then gently cooked in a water bath at a low temperature for a long time, before final preparation – for example, chargrilling, if it’s a piece of meat. The end result should be a tenderer, evenly-cooked item. Our Pan-Seared Australian Tenderloin 180g Sous-Vide (Rp.315,000) was exactly that – soft and perfect on the inside, but without sacrificing any of the flavour on the outside. Highly recommended.

Valrhona Manjari Chocolate Fondant

Even the desserts got in on the water bath action. A crème brûlée (Rp.75,000) was served wittily in a little mason jar, having been subjected to the sous-vide system beforehand. I confess, I’m not quite sure exactly what the treatment did for this dessert, but it was a decent crème brûlée nonetheless and we had no complaints wolfing it down.

Desserts at Colonial seemingly afford the kitchen the chance to be even more creative, evident in the Valrhona Manjari Chocolate Fondant (Rp.90,000). This was almost like a science project: a little chocolate volcano surrounded by ‘choco soil’, strawberry ‘worms’, crackly sesame tuille and a warm turmeric crème anglaise. Admittedly there’s a lot going on here, both visually and on the palate, but the fondant was good, as was the soil, and top marks must be awarded for ingenuity.

It is pleasing to see a local talent like Chef Zul given the chance to really explore the bounds of his creativity and have his voice expressed to the local market. The themes of old versus new; familiar versus fresh, and even West versus East are all ably matched by Colonial’s competent cooking and service, and agreeable atmosphere.

All in all, a pleasing little package. I will be interested to watch how the restaurant continues to fare in future.

—

Colonial Cuisine & Molecular

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Indonesia Makan Sayur is a community that tries to raise awareness of the health benefits of eating plant-based foods. Through Instagram, Facebook, and their recently launched blog, the initiative uses the power of social media to spread their message to the Indonesian public of living a healthy life through consuming the right foods. 

Sophie Navita, founder of Indonesia Makan Sayur

Being a vegan is somewhat becoming a trend. But when people spontaneously commit to a specific lifestyle, especially one that deals with a great degree of awareness like one’s eating habits, they are bound to face challenges. Youngsters, for instance, have the tendency to proudly advocate a vegan lifestyle, while in reality they lack the nutritional knowledge to be able to sustain such a diet.

One example that demonstrates people’s lack of awareness when it comes to diet is protein. According to the initiator of Indonesia Makan Sayur, Sophie Navita, only 20 percent of our daily nutritional intake needs to be made up of protein – a figure much lower than most would assume. Navita thinks that if a person truly understands nutrition, they would know that it is not exactly protein that is required by the body. “When you actually break it down, it is not the protein per se that you need, but amino acids, which are produced by the body when proteins are digested.”

Navita understands that different diets work for different people and the key is to listen to your body and learn which works best for you. “If someone follows a diet without actually listening to him or herself, then it usually won’t last long,” she says.

Founded in 2003, Indonesia Makan Sayur strives to educate the public in Indonesia about the importance of consuming a healthy diet. Previously, people were not as enthusiastic when hearing the word ‘vegan’ or ‘vegetarian’. Because of this, Sophie tried to translate the term ‘plant-based’ into something catchy yet intriguing, resulting in ‘Indonesia Makan Sayur’. Originally starting as just a hashtag on her personal social media, thousands of followers caught on.

With currently over 22,000 followers on Instagram, a Facebook page, and a recently launched blog, Sophie is recognizing the power of social media to bring people into the conversation of consuming a healthy, plant-based diet. She realizes that the advantage of having this online community, aside from being cost-effective, is the ability to reach a wider audience while allowing the community to be engaged.

On their Instagram account, Indonesia Makan Sayur promotes their activities by posting pictures of food that does not contain meat on ‘Meatless Monday’; delivering healthy recipes every Wednesday with the hashtag ‘Raburesep’ (Wednesday’s recipe); and promoting food movements across Indonesia every Tuesday and Thursday. Additionally, they hold writing and food competitions to further motivate followers.

“We are slowly trying to incorporate eating more plants into the Indonesian way of living and thinking,” Sophie says.

One of the most noticeable issues Sophie has found in the Indonesian diet is the habit of jajan (snacking; usually purchased outside the house). In all honesty, even I myself struggle with this, as everywhere I turn –roadsides, malls, on campus – I am faced with the urge to purchase an unhealthy snack. Although it does come with the benefit of serving as a tourist attraction, Sophie does not recommend this culture to continue to the point of damaging a person’s health. “How far are you willing to be stuffed by this jajanan culture to not let it affect your health?” she asks.

“When the Portuguese travelled here hundreds of years ago, they were after spices,” Sophie adds. “We are so used to incorporating spices into our cooking,” she suggests. As a consequence, Sophie says we are dealing with the burgeoning use of MSG in the food sold in restaurants and on the streets, as they try to match our tongue’s intrinsic demand for flavourful tastes.

Sophie is also concerned with the mentality of Indonesians when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle. She thinks that people will always find excuses to compensate for their unhealthy ways of eating. For one, she finds that people normally blame the fast pace of today’s world as a reason for why they no longer have time to cook for themselves.

If we understand the need to not just please our taste buds, but more importantly feed our bodies with nutrition, then we might have a chance for a healthy lifestyle. Sophie concludes, “Are you eating just for the momentary pleasure your tongue gets, or are you eating to feed your cells that actually help you to function?”

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East Bali Cashews (EBC) is stirring things up in today’s business world. From the birth of the enterprise just three years ago, the mission of EBC has been to create lasting change – and it is doing just that. We meet EBC’s American cliff-diving CEO and Founder Aaron Fishman and learn more about the exciting story behind his social enterprise.

Located in the Karangasem region of Bali, EBC has grown at an astounding rate, and is now exporting cashews to seven countries and counting. As the region’s largest employer, EBC provides over 350 jobs as well as various community development initiatives dedicated to improving the lives of the people of Ban Village. As EBC’s founder and CEO, Aaron is dedicated to ensuring that the company remains true to its mission of social, economic, and environmental sustainability.

How it all began

What made a young American uproot his entire life in his home country and move to Bali to start a business processing and selling cashews? The answer lies in two of Aaron’s greatest interests: helping people and food. Aaron has always been a ‘foodie’; whether cooking in a French restaurant in college, producing chocolate in France, owning a brownie company, or running a commercial kitchen.

The EBC staff working in Ban Village, East Bali

Surprisingly enough, although Aaron has always had an entrepreneurial spirit, the decision to come to Bali was, as he puts it, “…totally random. My friend told me about a non-profit that was sending a medical mission trip to Bali and I decided to go.” Aaron had never considered travelling to Bali before then and had no idea what to expect once he got there. Little did he know, it was a decision that would completely change not only his life, but the lives of hundreds of Balinese.

In East Bali, he felt worlds away from the crowded, noisy, touristy south. He was faced with the extreme poverty of those living off of this unforgiving land. He realized that though foreign aid provided through non-profit organizations was helpful, what this village really needed was a sustainable economic boost.

Aaron arrived in Bali at the height of the cashew season and learned from the local farmers that all the cashews would be shipped to Vietnam and India for processing. At that time, this practice, as well as other inefficiencies in the system, produced high environmental and financial costs while lowering cashew quality. Always thinking like an entrepreneur, Aaron had the idea to start a factory right there in Bali. He believed this was the way to provide the community with desperately needed jobs and create the sustainable development that this region lacked. He decided that he would create a self-sustaining business, one that would be profitable and beneficial to the community.

When starting the business there was no ‘grand plan’. He took things step by step and learned as he went, receiving the guidance and advice of many knowledgeable people. “My goal was to improve the community and to make a profit, and we have done both,” he says.

Aaron Fishman has improved the local community through his business

To undergo such a massive undertaking, he knew he had to figure out both the operational and the business side of things. Aaron described how he navigated through this unfamiliar territory. “On the operational side you can learn by doing. As for the business side, I had a local partner, Rezal, who gave me the know-how to begin a business here [in Indonesia]. Rezal and I started talking about it in February of 2012 and all the investment was raised by August of that year. We started production in November after raising just US$137,000.”

Lessons Learned

Aaron has had many surprises along the way. “I think the biggest surprise I had was how amazing my team has been and how many people have been supportive of us. We had to be able to run a complex operation in the middle of a very remote area. The team took it on full-steam and successfully executed it.”

When visiting the factory in Karangasem, one can immediately feel the positive energy and community spirit. However, Aaron notes how difficult it has been to bring the story of EBC to the consumer because of how far removed the two can be, especially now with EBC expanding into so many new and distant markets.

It is still difficult for Aaron to believe how much the company was able to do in the beginning with so little to start with. Luckily, his inexperience at that time was what allowed him to take a leap into the deep end, unphased by the very real possibility of failure that had befallen many others who attempted the same feat.

“If you would have told me that after just three rounds of capital we would make it, I would never have believed you. Starting the company in retrospect with US$100,000 is ridiculous. That was a terrible idea! It worked but I certainly wouldn’t do it again. I would start it much bigger, much better financed.”

The Future

Where does Aaron see himself in five years? “Probably sitting here, at this desk, with two factories, a plantation, an ecolodge, and much more advanced distribution so that we can reach all people who are willing to try us outside of Indonesia,” he says.

When asked about the possibility of new products Aaron answered, “I want a better product line that includes more cashew flavours, cereals, snack mixes, cashew popcorn, etc. If anything can be made with cashews, we will make it. I’m also working on a low-cost brand.”

It is very clear that with Aaron at the head of the company, EBC will continue to surprise and satisfy taste buds the world over. There is much in store for the company, as Aaron noted, “Things are going well but we have so much more to do. This is just the beginning.”

Through hard work, creativity, and a whole lot of cashews, Aaron has spearheaded a business improving the lives of everyone involved; a true model for the future.

For more information, please visit www.eastbalicashews.com

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Luca Pezzera, executive chef of the Union Group’s Caffè Milano and the recently opened Bistecca, shares his story of Italian roots and becoming an elite chef in Indonesia.

Since the age of 14, Luca Pezzera knew he would one day become a professional chef. He travelled, saw the world, and meet new people which further convinced him to take up a career in the culinary industry. Fast forward to 2016. The 47-year-old did what he set out to do, and currently sits at the helm of two high-end restaurants in Indonesia, and one in Singapore.

Growing up in the city of Bergamo, northeast of Milan, Luca knew his way around the kitchen as he was raised by a family of cooks. “My nonna [grandma] and my mamma are both great cooks, and I have always helped out around the kitchen. My neighbours also used to make wood-fired pizzas in their backyard, and I was always keen to assist,” says Pezzera.

His mother was his role model. She used to remind him to use fine and raw materials in his cooking. “My mother is my inspiration. She taught me to keep things simple and uncomplicated,” he says. The chef even keeps his mother’s recipe handy, an all-time favourite pasta with zucchini and prawns, used as one of the dishes at an event when his mother came and collaborated with Pezzera in Caffè Milano’s kitchen.

Pezzera’s career in Indonesia began in 2002, when he landed a job in Jakarta as a head chef at Hotel Intercontinental’s Scusa. Five years later, he moved to Singapore to open up Bontá Italian Restaurant & Bar, followed by several more outlets of another restaurant named District 10 – one that he also co-owns today. In 2015, he collaborated with the Union Group to establish Caffè Milano before ultimately deciding to move back to Jakarta after launching Bistecca.

Chef Luca Pezzera working his magic in the kitchen

When asked about his thoughts on working in Jakarta, the chef revealed that the people and culture in the capital keep his job interesting, as they always push him to become better. “I love how the people in Jakarta are so hospitable and warm, and very open to new things.

The fact that a majority of the people here appreciate good food very much also really motivates me as a chef to always serve the best quality and most delicious dishes to my customers,” he explains.

In addition to the people’s passion for food, he acknowledged that the food industry in Indonesia is now “more diverse and developed” as customers are increasingly more open to different tastes and cuisines. This in turn makes the food business in the archipelago more competitive, which also challenges Pezzera and other chefs to come up with new dishes, and step up their games.

Pezzera, for example, believes chefs these days are returning to the traditional ways of cooking. Similarly, the man himself turns out to be a fan of traditional cooking equipment. He bakes pizza using a hot stone oven in Caffè Milano, and grills all of the meat over charcoal and wood – a method which he describes as “old school” – in Bistecca.

Apart from keeping up with the trends when it comes to cooking techniques, he still prioritizes the quality of food by always using fresh ingredients, while also trying to stay focused on authenticity. These principles are all expressed at Caffè Milano, an all-day restaurant that serves classic Italian dishes, cocktails and wine. At the venue, customers can feel the dining culture from Milan and Northern Italy when they first step in.

“What also sets us apart from other Italian restaurants in Jakarta is how we are able to recreate a classic Milanese trattoria with our outdoor area. In addition, the energy we have within Caffè Milano itself is also a unique quality,” says Pezzera.

For restaurants under the hands of such a big company like the Union Group, Pezzera notes that it is important for the people working inside to have the same passion and spirit that he does. Luckily, the company’s co-founders and board of directors are able to work together with the chefs and managers to maintain the best quality of food, service and company culture, says Pezzera. All of these, according to him, are the keys for the Union Group to keep its top eateries sustainable.

Outside of work, Pezzera also has a kitchen life of his own. He revealed that a pair of knives, an old wooden block chopping board, staple ingredients of garlic, olive oil and chilli powder would never leave his side when preparing a dish at home. At night when he gets hungry, the chef often turns pasta into aglio olio for a snack. Spaghetti with sautéed scallops, garlic, olive oil and fresh Sicilian sea urchin is Pezzera’s guilty pleasure.

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A Russian restaurant on the island of Bali? You may think that’s odd considering the tropical climes of our island paradise, but it’s actually a shrewd china business idea. Bali has around 2,000 Russian expats, not to mention the thousands who come every year to vacation in upmarket areas such as Nusa Dua where Slavyanka is conveniently located.

Nestled in Bali Collection, an open-air complex of restaurants, cafes and retail outlets, Slavyanka was the first Russian restaurant to be opened in Indonesia and is definitely out of the ordinary. Owner, Vedanta Wijaya originally ran a travel agents which catered for Russian tourists travelling to Bali. He told me that this tourist exodus started around ten years ago, several years after the USSR dismantled and businesses were privatised, “allowing people the wealth to travel and although not originally in large numbers, it was quality rather than quantity.” December to March are the busiest months for Slavyanka as Russian tourists flock to Bali on the four flights a week available from Moscow.

During the peak seasons at Slavyanka, the kitchen can churn out 400 servings of traditional Russian soup of beetroot, cabbage, carrot and pork (Borscht) and 50 kg of dumplings (Pelneni) a day. These two dishes are favourites here, with 95% of customers being from Russia, and the remaining 5% Australian, Japanese and Indonesian. This was my first authentic Russian culinary experience and we sampled enough to get an idea of what Russian cuisine is all about.

To start, we tried the Polevoy Salad, a refreshing and healthy start to a meal, along with a Vinegret Salad, a purple mix of boiled beets, potatoes, carrots, pickles, onions and sauerkraut. Then we got heavier with Borscht, a hearty soup originally from the Ukraine containing beets and pork, followed by dumplings served with sour cream — Vareniki (dumplings filled with potato) and Pelneni (dumplings filled with meat). Rich and dangerous for the waistline, but tasty all the same. Then we sampled Sashlik, grilled skewers of pork, beef or lamb meat.

And what do most punters drink at Slavyanka? Vodka, and lots of it apparently. “Some of our guests will sit outside on the patio during the day, have a beer and drink vodka while reading the paper,” Vedanta tells me. The most popular brand being Smirnoff as import duties make the price of Russian vodka too expensive for anyone’s liking. Wines, beers and non-alcoholic drinks are of course also available at reasonable prices.

If you have Russian clients visiting, or you’re keen to try something different, definitely take a trip to Slavyanka. The décor in itself is enough to entertain — Tsars in gold frames decorate the walls, a decadent chandelier welcomes you upon entry, and red curtains swoop down around you and the jet-black floors. Food is authentic as is the company – Russian diners will surround you. Na zda rov ye!

Slavyanka

Bali Collection Block A3 9-10-11, Nusa Dua

Phone: +62 361 770 225

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 “White rice is lacklustre, lifeless, tasteless and irritating to prepare; brown rice is flavoursome, wholesome and easy to prepare”.
Maud Grieve F.R.H.S. (1858-1941) – A Modern Herbal (pub. 1931)

Every society has a staple food: my London upbringing revolved around potatoes, varieties such as King Edwards in winter for baking and Whites for salads. We grew them in our back garden. My mother also made a delicious rice pudding with sultanas and raisins; it was boiled in milk, then baked for a while with a sprinkling of nutmeg on the top.

Later, as an adult, I’d enjoyed the occasional Chinese takeaway with white rice, Indian meals with basmati rice and vegan meals with brown rice bought from the community wholefoods store. Yet, not yet being a traveller, I knew little about the other 40,000 plus varieties of rice – yes, there are really that many, nor that Indonesian alone has about 7,000 varieties, suitable for uplands, lowlands or tidal swamps.

Shortly after I arrived in Jakarta in pre-internet days and began the process of acculturation, I was somewhat taken aback by Indonesian’s obsession with food – meaning rice.

Sudah makan, belum?

It is thought that around 1000BC rice cultivation spread to the Malay-Indo archipelago from the Bronze Age ?ông S?n (Dongsan) culture centred in the Red River Valley of northern Vietnam. This brought irrigated rice-growing techniques, as well as husbandry skills, buffalo sacrifice rituals, bronze casting, the custom of erecting megaliths, and ikat weaving methods. Some of these practices survive today in the Batak areas of Sumatra, Tana Toraja in Sulawesi, parts of Kalimantan, and Nusa Tenggara.

By the 1st century AD, small kingdoms, collections of villages subservient to petty chieftains, evolved in Java*. The island’s constant hot temperature, plentiful rainfall and volcanic soil was ideal for wet-field rice cultivation. This largely self-sufficient organisation, with surplus rice being stored for communal use in times of drought or festivities, could explain why the Javanese developed a seemingly more feudal society than the other islands. Dry rice cultivation is not such a collective enterprise.

However, the population explosion last century – from c.50 million in 1900 to c.110 million in 66/67 – led to rice shortages. President Sukarno advocated the eating of corn, or rats from the rice fields – accounts vary but the populace were unimpressed either way – and the famine was temporarily and partially alleviated by USAID rice aid shipments.

The Bureau of Logistics (Badan Urusan Logistik/BULOG), a government-owned company which deals with food distribution and price control, was originally established in 1967 to purchase rice for the provisioning of the armed forces, the civil service, and state corporation employees. It now monitors and sets prices for a much wider variety of foods. (Since its foundation, Bulog has raised the living standards of farmers, but it’s also proved a much larger source of illicit funding for its managers.)

In 1968, Suharto launched his ‘Green Revolution’ aiming for food self-sufficiency. The government provided subsidies for fertilizer, pesticides, and irrigation, which helped to increase yields and production.

By 1978, programs to build up the rural infrastructure, such as irrigation canals, water supply, bridges and roads, amounted to 12% of the national development budget, demonstrating the importance of rice to political stability. This worked for a while; in spite of a drastic drop in production due to the 1975–76 wereng (brown planthopper) plague, by 1984 rice production exceeded domestic consumption for the first time. Suharto was honoured for this by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in November 1985.

However, Indonesia became a net rice importer once again in 1988 and the rural rakyat were advised to eat ubi (cassava) as their staple food. It wasn’t until last year (2012) that Bulog had “the highest ever rice stocks” with 2.3 million tons, having imported just 700,000 tons.

The ‘Green Revolution’ and the recent move towards genetically modified seeds has had several unfortunate consequences. Farming on an industrial scale with centralised distribution of insecticides, pesticides, fertilisers and ‘standard’ seeds has reduced the fertility of the soil, with chemicals leaching into the water table via run-offs from the fields. Farmers, who had localised and inherited knowledge of the terrain they were working, have been displaced, many becoming workers in the fields their families once owned.

In 2007, the government, through national seed company, PT Sang Hyang Seri, launched a major hybrid rice programme in association with such Indonesian oligarchs as Tomy Winarta and Jusuf Kalla. Since then, many farmers have experienced crop failures because, as Prof. Dr. Kasumbogo Untung, an entomologist at the Universitas Gadjah Mada in Yogyakarta said in 2010, hybrid seeds are especially susceptible to pests such as brown planthoppers.

Rice fields by David Metcalf

Many farmers have reverted to more traditional methods such as the System of Rice Intensification (SRI). This was developed in India and seen yields per hectare increase by as much as 40%. It is based on eight principles which are different to conventional rice cultivation. They include developing nutrient-rich and un-flooded nurseries instead of flooded ones, ensuring wider spacing between rice seedlings, preferring compost or manure to synthetic fertilizers, and managing water carefully to avoid that the plants’ roots are not saturated.

Another major advantage of SRI is that it relies on local knowledge, which increases the likelihood that the seeds used would be more resistant to prevalent infestations

SBY, who has a PhD from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture, supports SRI because, “it increases production, yet does not damage the environment. We should think about the future of our children [and] the lives of the next generation.“(video: http://srivideo.zoomshare.com)

I’m with SBY on this: support local farmers, not the genetically modified conglomerates.

*Stamford Raffles, in his History of Java suggests that the name is derived from the Sanskit word ‘yava’, which means barley.

Did you know?
Rice farming is responsible for 14% of total global methane emissions.

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I recently have been having an affair with raw food. This type of food may not be everyone’s favourite, but has become a rising trend lately, especially in Ubud.

Raw foodies believe that consuming uncooked food regularly is the best way to maintain health. Unlike food made from animal products, raw food leaves no side effects that can harm the body in the long term, and believed can enhance the detoxification process in the body, especially if combined with nutritious juices.

My food affair this time lands me at a new raw food restaurant in Ubud, Living Food Lab, located only a few metres away from the famous Monkey Forest. This is actually their second outlet; the first one, which also has the same name, has been serving nutritious cuisines to school students at Green School for about one and a half years.

When I step up on the second floor, I am drawn to a cosy open-space restaurant, beautifully made from bamboo with a view of rolling rice fields on the other side of the building. Some busy staff working at the bar greet me with their warmest smile and a glass of watermelon limeade to refresh me on this very hot day. Right away I fall in love with this chic restaurant that provides a relaxing atmosphere, and of course, delicious healthy cuisines.

Food with a purpose

The business started with Avara Yaron selling raw food at Green School’s warung. Yaron has been a raw food chef for the last five years, and started a living-food catering company in the States, right before she permanently moved to Bali about three years ago.

The idea to bring it to a higher level happened when Yaron met her co-founder, Steve Munroe, an ex-UN staff who fell in love with Ubud. Munroe’s interest in raw food started after having survived consuming miserable foods for years when he was sent to conflict areas across the world.

When Green School then agreed to partner with them, Living Food Lab was born.

“We were very excited about the green school community, and about the idea of basically getting kids to eat the healthy stuff and the educational experience for them,” said Munroe.

Living Food Lab also sources ninety percent of their ingredients locally, supported by local suppliers that partner up with local farmers. One of their suppliers is East Bali Cashews, which empowers cashew farmers and educates them how to process their cashews locally, where before they sent it to India and Vietnam for processing.

Healthy temptations

Proponents of raw food lifestyle believe that vegetables can lose its important nutrition when cooked or heated. And with the absence of animal products or ingredients that must undergo cooking/heating process, a handful of creativity is absolute in the making of raw food, especially to substitute those ingredients.

Living Food Lab has many creative ideas when it comes to delicious, healthy raw foods. One of the examples is the pizza. I am quite surprised when a plate of pizza is served on my table. Instead of getting slices of baked dough with tomato sauces, melted mozzarella and different toppings, I sample two beautiful gluten-free crusts made from sunflower and flux seeds, topped with cashew paté and dressing choices of pesto or sundried tomato.

I have to admit, I love the taste. The combination of tomato salsa and basil leaves sprinkled on top of the pizza gives a refreshing sensation that blend well with the soft texture of the cashew paté and its tasty dressing – I almost forget it is raw. Not only delicious, it also cools and pleases my belly.

To boost the energy of their customers in the morning – both adults and children – Living Food Lab offers granola bars. Different topping choices such as cashews, sesame seeds, goji berries, flax seeds, cacao nibs, sunflower seeds, almonds, oats, dates, mixed with different liquids, such as cashew milk for vegans or cow’s milk and yogurt, really sound perfect to nourish the day.

For lunch, the granola bar is replaced with mixed green lettuces, along with 12 different toppings, such as a variety of seeds or vegetables, and five different dressings, which are changed regularly, for only Rp.35,000. Mango wrap is another favourite, combining mango paté, baby romaine, zucchini and other vegetables, drizzled with sesame garlic dressing.

Choices of raw chocolates – children’s most favourite nibble – are displayed to opt for perfect desserts, along with raw cakes, such as raw apple cake or delicious strawberry cheesecake, that taste as delicious as cooked cakes. Another temptation is the Protein Bar. This bar full of good protein from different nuts, answers the question of where raw foodies get their protein; sweet and chewy, perfect for a healthy afternoon snack.

Raw food may be a new thing, but why not try to tuck on this healthy, unique, but delicious temptation for your diet? Although it might not give you a flavour kick like a succulent steak or fat patty in a cheeseburger, raw food is uniquely delicious when it comes to flavour, very interesting to try, and gives nothing but good to your body.

Living Food Lab
Green School, Abiansemal, Bali, Indonesia
Jalan Monkey Forest 88x, Ubud
www.livingfoodlab.com

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