What a lovely evening. Our first long table dinner for the season. The atmosphere was glowing in that glorious Balinese candle-lit way. Wines were poured, food was served and conversation flowed. And everything was delicious! The menu, many of my favourites; prawns and coconut in banana leaves, braised chicken with...
It's on again! My long-table dinners at home celebrating some of my favourite Balinese food will be held during the month of July. Recipes from my cookbook, Bali:The Food of My Island Home, will be featured, made fresh from my own kitchen, using organic local...
Congratulations Surabaya. I have just returned from a long weekend from this bustling centre of commerce in East Java. I am impressed with the clean streets and rivers and the overall tidiness, thanks to Tri Rismaharini, Surabaya’s first female mayor, who is running Indonesia’s second...
Andrea Hirata: The Rainbow Troops source : ABC Australia | http://www.abc.net.au/tv/bigideas/stories/2013/04/02/3724829.htm Indonesian writer Andrea Hirata has had spectacular success with his debut novel, The Rainbow Troops, selling 5 million copies in Indonesia alone. But he’s a modest man, pointing out that the population of Indonesia is 247 million. Born on the island of...
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="325"] Janet DeNeefe rendang version | Photo by Mark Roper[/caption] You would think I would be tired of eating Rendang by now. Only last month I made a long-awaited pilgrimage to Padang and Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, the revered home of Rendang, to savour...
One hundred and twenty authors will appear this year including singer and writer Nick Cave, expatriate Australian writer John Pilger and former East Timor president José Ramos Horta. The festival is the brainwave of Australian Janet de Neefe and has attracted many outstanding writers over the...
Makassar, South Sulawesi, just a one hour and three minute flight from Bali. Makassar is famous for Coto Makassar. What is it? Think of a meaty beef broth that is full bodied but refreshingly light. Street-side warungs on just about every corner sell it. In...
My journey over the past few weeks has been celebrating the culinary goddesses of Ubud, the women who have helped shape Ubud’s identity as the centre of all things gastronomic. You can bury any illusions of the glamorous Nigella Lawson twin-set types. These Ubud women...
Dear Travellers Wish You Were Here…. in my little office in Ubud, Bali, that overlooks carved pavilions, stone goddesses and frangipani trees that come in all shades and fragrances. Just another day in paradise! So what brought me to the shimmering shores of this fabled island, I...
You Are The Sunshine Of My Life That’s Why I’ll Always Stay Around You Are The Apple Of My Eye Forever You’ll Stay In My Heart Stevie Wonder. Breakfast at the Four Seasons in Jakarta, the morning after the Jakarta Post 25th anniversary celebration with the effects...