Balinese cuisine conquers heart of Kolkata foodie, chefs flown-in from the sea-ringed land
Master Chefs from the exotic land, Sugiana and Yogi tell IBNS the culinary items have sambal, a chilli-based sauce or basa gede, a basic spice paste, in common to add a special distinct flavor and kick to the Balinese dishes.
Asked about similarities with Bengali cuisine, the two said they have heard about banana leaf wrapped fish preparation called ‘Paturi’ here and the Balinese main course menu also comprised Pesan be Pasih (grilled fish wrapped in banana leaf) and Pesan Wong (steamed spice mushroom in baana leaf packet). There is also roasted lamb wrapped in leaf as the Indonesians use leaf extensively for all genres of culinary art unlike here.
"Besides the young, widely travelled, aspirational Indonesian urban youth, our target remains the foreign tourists who wish to savour the authentic local cuisine and tickle their taste buds,” Yogi says.
Besides the speciality food items, available at select places, street food consists a major chunk of the Balinese cuisine and ‘Rujak Buah’ – sliced ,mixed fruit with tamarind chili sauce – remains one of the toppers available in two flavours, Sugiana says.
The typical Balinese cuisine – brought here for the first time – included Siap Pelalah (spicy chicken salad), cramcan (Balinese Chicken Soup), Sambal Udeng (Prawn in tomato sambal), Acar Kuning (vegetable pickle in turmeric dressing), and Kolek Biu (braised banana in palm sugar sauce) and Dadar gulung (Balinese crepes) among the dessert.
The two chefs, having travelled all the way from Fairmont Sanur Beach, Bali, says “We want to strengthen linkages within the lcal and global culinary community turning bali as one of the best food destinations in the world.”
“Right now we want to taste all the signature dishes of Bengal and India and relish the ‘misti doi’ from Bengal,” they sign off.
The buffer dinner was available at Café Swiss of Swissotel Kolkata from March 3 to 7.
Judged by the enthusiastic response from the Kolkata connoisseurs we intend to roll out delicacies in future again, a spokesperson says.
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