May 2014 Non-fiction Berkeley Books

Balinese Food: The Traditional Cuisine & Food Culture of Bali Vivienne Kruger


Paperback | May 2014 | Tuttle Publishing | 9780804844505 | 304pp | 206x127mm | GEN | AUD$16.99

Balinese food is singular among the leading cuisines of the world: dedicated to the gods and fueled by an array of achingly fresh spices, it is inextricably bound to the island's Bali-Hindu religion, culture, and community life. Balinese Food: The Traditional Cuisine and Food Culture of Bali bears witness to Bali's time-honored, enduring, authentic village cuisine: the extraordinary, legendary beauty of Bali is mirrored in its spectacular ceremonial feasts. The preparation of Balinese food is steeped in divine rituals, exactitude, and religious perfectionism: curious strangers in paradise can only gape in awe, respect, and admiration—as we struggle to learn how to eat and make food offerings on the island of the gods. Three million peasants by day—three million smiling artists by night—the Balinese carve and etch and paint their food into the rich spiritual shapes and divine colors of fragrant, holy temples and imposing royal palaces. They build and they cook with love, art, and reverence on an island perfectly positioned and protected—and lost in time—eight secret degrees south of the equator. Welcome to the luscious green villages and humble kitchens of Bali!

Favourable reviews for Balinese Food from - The Key Reporter, The Bali Update and Living in Bali (Expat.or.id)

"Vivienne Kruger's long connection to Bali, her love of Balinese food and academic eye for detail has resulted in a book that breaks new ground in its study of Balinese culture, the Island's delicious food, and the accompanying ancient traditional cooking methods." —Bali Update, BaliDiscovery.com

The American Herb Association reviews Vivienne Kruger's Balinese Food saying "We meet the culture through its cuisine and have the opportunity to experience it first hand through an array of delicious recipes."