An amazing experience with Made and his family. We were picked up from our hotel at the specified time and taken on a long drive to the picturesque Jatiluwih. Although the drive is long, the whole experience is so so worth it. Upon arrival, we went on a lovely bike ride - which was easy - and we were able to stop to take photos and our guide was fantastic. He talked us through any questions we had and was absolutely lovely. Once we had completed our cycle, we went back to Made’s farm, we were presented with a delicious lemongrass drink and then picked all of our fresh ingredients - all completely homegrown by Made and his family - and then we started to cook. Made and his wife were excellent and talked us through each dish we were making - we even got a menu to take home as a keepsake. We made lots of different traditional Balinese dishes that were all delicious. We started with the most important dish: Bumbu Bali, a staple for most Balinese dishes. We then progressed to make numerous delicious dishes such as: Fresh Moringa soup, Sayur Urab, Chicken curry, chicken dumplings, Satay Lilit and Skewers (cooked traditionally on the bbq), Sambal Matah, Traditional Peanut sauce, Steamed rice, and finally Pisang Goreng (Fried Bananas) - which were served with the most delicious palm sugar syrup - which Made told us the recipe for upon request!! At the beginning of the trip, Made showed us his own honeycomb that he had created by taking to the local jungle to populate with a Queen Bee and then brought back later - we said that we would love to try it, however Made said that the bees were very aggressive at the moment - despite this, at the end of the trip, he disappeared and then returned with a sample for us to try which was incredible; he really went the extra mile to make our experience the best that it could be. Although this trip may seem slightly expensive compared to others, and it can be quite a distance to travel if you are staying in popular tourist areas of Bali, I cannot recommend this experience more. Made and his family made the trip so easy for us and so worthwhile - it was truly a traditional experience and we learnt so much about Balinese cooking, traditions and their way of life. Please do take our advice and support Made’s dream to take this experience even further, as he divulged some amazing ideas to us on our trip with how he could expand this cultural experience to be even more amazing! A huge thank you to Made and all of his wonderful family for giving us such a once in a lifetime experience! Hal & Courtney x
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