School Bali Field Trip: Tenganan Village Treats: Cerorot and Sumping

First off - this post may not truly express my love of food. Instead, this post is more towards all the aspects I have learnt from my itinerary to Tenganan Villlage. Hey ray, What is Tenganan? So Tenganan is an isolated village - not travel-wise, but it terms of its culture. It is one of the villages in Bali that still highly values local tradition and lived by the Bali Aga people or.. the native Balinese.

For short: they still maintain and perform ancient traditions:  rituals, architecture, marriage, and so forth.

As we enter the village, we headed straight towards the village chief's house. A lovely house with lots of geringsing textiles which are made using the double ikat method.

We are greeted warmly by the village chief and his household members and we are given a basketful of snacks and warm tea. Nice presentation huh?

A basket of Traditional Balinese snack

Now to the food part which everyone loves -  First off is the Cerorot - Looks like a dodol, but it isn't. So the cake consists of two main ingredients: brown sugar and rice. They are then steamed. To eat it, simply push the cerorot to your mouth and let the gooey cake melts into your mouth. Nice.

The second delight was the sumping: which was a steamed rice cake filled with bananas. I loved this one.

It was a nice coffee break with these two Balinese treats. Despite the heat, I can still enjoy these two delicacies due to its deliciousness. Nope. I did not touch the warm sweet tea. It'll drive me crazy.

As we discuss further Balinese tradition - including marriage, religious activities, titles, economy and external influences (maybe.. foodgazette readers won't be highly interested in these topics...) we went back to the bus and saw this unique egg cactus. (kaktus telur) I thought it would be interesting. The tree is real, and the egg truly grows. But this is not.. a chicken egg you know.. the one you can cook? No. 

School Bali Field Trip: Pita Maha

Helloo foodies! Continuing on with my Bali field trip stories... Well.. I realized as seniors that will end his or her school life soon - making this Bali trip as our last big fieldtrip... We have a big appetite. From eating, shopping, playing and hangin out.. as seniors we need lots of those. Worst thing is: The school is a bit crazy on food: Snacks are always served during coffee breaks and there are huge portion of meals needed to be finished during most meals. I really had to control what I ate during the trip really. I'm getting fatter and it is D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S!

In the previous post, I posted about Ibu Oka's Sucking Pig that was delicious (If you haven't checked them out, please do so!) . However, you guys should know that before we went to Ibu Oka... we actually had ate lunch at the Pitamaha Ubud. Terrific isnt it?

 

Despite the crazy appetite, Pita Maha Ubud has an excellent view. There's a pool down the restaurant, and a green scenery of traditional Ubud. 

While enjoying the scenery, we are given a glass of soft drinks. Perfect for this time of day.

 Soft Drinks - Sprite and Coke

The weather in Bali in the last 2 days of my trip has been extraordinarily hot! I even got a fever during the second day due to the harsh weather.. But thank God I was fully healed after I ate breakfast.

Back to the point, despite the nice scenery we can enjoy.. Service was kinda slow. While waiting for our appetizers, Bert even ordered a glass of juice and minutes after the juice has arrived, our appetizers are not even served. Here is what Bert ordered: The Pineapple Juice in Black-and-white.

Pineapple Juice

Still waiting.. I took a pic of the table ornament they had in each table. This is the one on my seat with J. Still in Black and White.

Table Ornament

And finally! Meal is served. Starting with the appetizers. First up is the Prawn Soup / Sup Udang. Three prawn balls served in a Balinese spicy soup. It's appearance may not look really close to a tom yum (due to the clearer soup)... But it tastes like one. More prawn balls would be nice seriously.

 Prawn Soup / Sup Udang

Good thing they have sped up. Now comes the main course: The Ubud Fried Duck.

 Balinese Fried Duck

Deep fried till brown and crispy.. I like the crispiness of this duck and not too salty either. The companion: The sambal matah was nice. Did not touch the red one.

Last came the desserts. Wasn't really special because its only sliced fruit. Not even Cold... Maybe they should've chilled the fruits first before serving?

Overall, it was an okay meal. The view was really great and relaxing to us all. :)

Meanwhile, there is one more post in regards to my trip to Bali with my School. Just wait for it!

School Bali Field Trip: Babi Guling Ibu Oka

Hello foodies! I just had a nice field trip with my School to Bali!  I had a nice time for sure as this field trip isn't just an ordinary fun trip. We are here to meet Oka Rusmini, the writer of Tarian Bumi. A book... that will be used for our final papers. This trip was also a trip for us to learn the true Balinese culture and local arts as well. 

                                  
Despite the hectic schedule - from going to Tenganan Village, visiting the Blanco Museum and hearing some speakers express their thoughts...  it was a generousity of my school to give us students some free time during the night and at our last itinerary in Ubud.

The grade twelve male seniors.. decided to have another lunch in Ibu Oka's Suckling Pig joint. I'm sure frequent visitors of Bali knew this place.

Entrance

A whole lot of pork being prepped up!

Upon entering, we are given an awesome service: we are greeted and asked where were from with our DK B4 LI tee.

Thanks to Krish for being my model!

Well we answered. We're from Jakarta. International school... We love Ibu Oka's suckling pig... and it will be a huge loss if we did not made the effort to eat some of your pork and bla bla bla.

Their Menu

The taste? No doubt about Ibu Oka's cooking. Based on my tastebuds, It is Simply one of the best foods in Bali. Its cuts are perfectly cooked with the right texture and the right taste. not too salty.. not too spicy.

Special Plate

In this Special Plate, everything is included - vegetables, pork roll, fried meat, sausage, meat, PORK SKIN... and rice accompanied with their not-so-spicy sauce.

While Calv can't eat sambals.. he opted to have the plain one and he said it is still great. For sure everything becomes really clear when the meat and veggies get naked. :)

 Special Plate with no Sauces at all

For the drinks.. I had the young coconut, and we had a glass of rice wine for each. Delicious.

 Rice Wine

Last the waitresses said goodbye and to come again soon, we too said bye bye.

Meanwhile, Expect more food reviews posted at thefoodgazette.blogspot.com in regards to my Bali Fieldtrip with my school!