From Garden to Plate: A Taste of Bali
One of the most memorable experiences on our Bali journey isn’t simply about sitting down to enjoy a delicious Balinese meal. It begins much earlier — with our hands in the earth, wandering through a working organic farm just outside Ubud and discovering where the ingredients on our plates actually come from.
Here, cooking starts in the garden.
We begin by exploring the farm and harvesting our own freshly grown ingredients. We pick vegetables, herbs and other seasonal produce, learning about the plants that are such an important part of everyday Balinese cooking.
There is something rather special about choosing an ingredient straight from the garden and knowing that, only a short while later, it will become part of the meal we sit down to enjoy.
From the Garden to the Kitchen
With our baskets filled, we head to the traditional cooking area where our Balinese cooking experience begins.
Under the guidance of our local hosts, we learn how these fresh ingredients are transformed into a selection of traditional dishes. We discover the importance of the aromatic herbs, spices and pastes that give Balinese food its distinctive character — fresh, fragrant and full of flavour.
And this is very much a hands-on experience.
We chop, grind, mix, season and cook together, sharing the kitchen and learning some of the secrets behind the dishes that we have enjoyed throughout our travels in Bali.
Something for Everyone
Our cooking experience also caters for different tastes, with both vegetarian and non-vegetarian options prepared.
This makes it particularly enjoyable for our group because everyone gets to participate in the same experience, while enjoying dishes suited to their own preferences.
But perhaps the best part comes at the end..
From Our Hands to Our Plates
After spending time in the garden and kitchen, we finally sit down together to enjoy the meal we have helped create.
And somehow, food tastes even better when you have seen where it came from, harvested the ingredients yourself and taken part in preparing it.
It becomes more than just lunch.
It is a connection between the land, the people, the food and the culture of Bali.
This is exactly the kind of experience I look for when creating our journeys — not simply visiting a destination, but getting involved, meeting local people, learning something new and experiencing a place through all our senses.
From a freshly picked ingredient in an organic garden outside Ubud…
to a beautifully prepared Balinese meal on our plates.
That is our kind of farm to table experience — truly from garden to plate.
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