Balinese cuisine is increasingly popular with foreigners, hotel chefs are innovating

Indonesian cuisine, including Balinese cuisine, has recently become popular among foreign tourists who come to the Island of the Gods. For this reason, hotel chefs are innovating so that the taste of Indonesian cuisine is more easily accepted by the stomachs of foreigners.

“At the moment, foreign guests (at hotels) are happy to try Balinese cuisine. So, we as chefs at hotels are adapting because the stomachs of foreigners and locals are different,” said Head of the Bali Chefs Association Hendra Mahena on the sidelines of the Annual Sustainable Food Festival. The fourth will be held by the Bali Hotels Association (BHA) at Conrad Bali, Tanjung Benoa, Badung, from Wednesday (30/10/2024) to 10 November.

According to Hendra, Indonesian menus have the opportunity to compete with western menus and various other menus. Hendra believes this after winning 1st place when representing Indonesia in a cooking competition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, last year.

“At that time I cooked the serombotan menu,” recalls Hendra.

Meanwhile, BHA Sustainability Director John Nielsen said BHA members from all over Bali participated in the festival. They offer Indonesian menus and will combine them with modern culinary techniques.

This momentum also serves to promote sustainable dining practices. John explained that the Sustainable Food Festival seeks to raise awareness about sustainable cuisine.

“By prioritizing locally produced food, we not only reduce our carbon footprint, but also explore various flavors from various islands in Indonesia,” explained John.

He also said that the menus served use ingredients that come entirely from Indonesia.

BHA Deputy Chair Frenklyn Julios invited tourists, domestic and foreign, to come to the Sustainable Food Festival. There is no fee to enter.

“We actually also want to educate that the lifestyle in hotels is not just about constantly using them non-sustainablebecause what we want is that from here we move towards sustainability and take products that we can recycle,” he explained.

(hsa/hsa)