Description
To read of my travels, you might get the impression that for most of the last three years, I've done nothing but prowl night markets and food stalls. True, a lot of great grilling takes place on Third World street corners, but you can also find some pretty amazing barbecue at luxury resorts. One such place is Amandari, a hotel built right into a rice paddy near the artist town of Ubud, Bali. Dinner began with a Balinese welcome dance performed by local children in gold-embroidered gowns. My wife, Barbara, and I dined at a table for two strewn with rose petals in an open pavilion facing a lily pond. A team of chefs cooked for us and us alone on portable grills over charcoal. The succession of dishes—grilled shrimp with fiery lemongrass sambal, Balinese grilled chicken, and whole grilled fish with kaffir lime leaves—revealed Balinese cooking in all its polymorphic glory. A profoundly complex cuisine only hinted at in the food at your typical street-corner stall.
