RECIPE—meatballs

I usually make these meatballs rather small, say the size of a big marble. And rather than roasting them in the oven, I cook them in the sugo of the previous post.

Ingredients:

·         500 g of minced beef

·         1 onion finely chopped

·         parsley, dried 2 tsp, or fresh – a fair amount but not too much, remember it is not supposed to be a vegetarian patty

·         50 g of crumbs for tempura batter, or bread crumbs

·         1 egg lightly beaten

·         3 tbsp (heaped) of cream cheese – the rather wet variety

·         2 tbsp olive oil for mixing into the meat

·         salt and coarsely ground black pepper to taste

·         red chilli pepper flakes to taste (optional)

Preparation:

In a large mixing bowl mix together all of the above ingredients. Mix well, using your hands to mash and squeeze the mixture.

Roll into balls the size of big marbles.

Cook in the sugo of my previous post, and serve with spaghetti or any other pasta.

RECIPE—sugo

Sugo means juice in Italian, as well as sauce. More precisely, sugo is a meat sauce of chopped vegetables and ground meat, or larger pieces, pan-fried in butter or fat or oil and thereafter braised in liquid… slowly! The nice thing about sugos is that they get better one or two days after cooking. Close your eyes and imagine the smell of those beautiful aromas merging into an ever improving total flavour.

And sugo keeps for quite some time—frozen or cold—which makes it perfect for quick pasta meals for those with busy professional lives and limited kitchen time. Moreover, the same sugo would not necessarily induce a feeling of ...oh no, not again… if each subsequent meal were to be made unique with additional ingredients. The original sugo would then fuse the pasta—or rice, or Hong Kong noodles, or mashed potatoes, or polenta—to the new ingredient, which could be anything: a stir-fried vegetable or meat dish, or mushrooms sautéed with bacon strips, or sausages.

My favourite sugo is prepared the following way.

Ingredients:

Fresh tomatoes                500 g (canned whole or chopped tomatoes may be substituted).
Stewing steak                   250 g, cut into cubes of 2 cm or smaller
Onion                                  one large, chopped small
Garlic                                   3-5 cloves, peeled and crushed
Back bacon                        6 slices, chopped
Olive oil                              30 ml (2 tbsp)
Salt                                       to taste
Ground black pepper     to taste
Dried chilli flakes             5 ml (1 tsp)
Oregano (dried)              5 ml (1 tsp)

Preparation:

Using a suitably sized casserole, or Dutch oven, fry the onion in the oil, medium heat.

When golden add the meat, let simmer for 5 minutes or till evenly browned.

Halve and quarter the tomatoes and add to the casserole, and add the chopped bacon.

Simmer for 5 minutes stirring occasionally.

Add the salt, the pepper and the chilli flakes.

Simmer on smallest heat using a heat-diffuser for 2-3 hours. Stir regularly and check the consistency—remember it is a sauce we are preparing and when too dry add water. The meat (depending on cut and quality) should have become an integral part of the sauce… if not: simmer longer!

Oregano is best added towards the end as its flavour is gradually lost during the cooking process.

BALI –changes

The only constant is change. No wonder therefore that the island described by von Faber in his Guidebook and Souvenir of BALI is quite different from the one that modern-day visitors will encounter.

The disappearance of the tiger, and consequently the hunting parties to the western part of the island, is the result of population pressure and competition for the shared environment with wildlife loosing out, while the unspoiled tranquillity of Kuta has disappeared due to lively entrepreneurial resourcefulness and commercial acumen.

Increasing exposure to the outside world has then inevitably led to changes in the outlook of the population itself. I believe it was in Karl Martin's Reisen in den Molukken, in Ambon, den Uliassern, Seran (Ceram) und Buru, Eine Schilderung von Land und Leuten, that I read how sailors dreaded to be becalmed off Bali because its wild long-haired inhabitants would come out in their canoes grappling hooks at the ready to board. Apparently many a ship's crew and supplies were lost during these attacks. Most likely Martin relates stories of yore. His voyage to the Moluccas took place in 1891/92 and it seems highly unlikely that these attacks still occurred in his days. But then, who knows, today piracy is still rampant off the south-western Philippines, in the Strait of Malacca, and of course around Somalia.

Outside influence is almost immediately noticeable in the way of dressing. When von Faber wrote the guidebook Balinese men still wore their hair long. And while the main cities like Denpasar and Singaraja had already changed to a "modern" dress, the countryside was still largely traditional.

Men were wearing a single piece of cloth—kamben—reaching from the waist to the knees and tied in the front, held in place by a cloth belt. Dressed for official or religious occasions they wear a large sarong—saput—over the kamben. Depending on the wealth of the wearer this saput was of greater or lesser quality.

Women wore a sarong tied at the waist and held in place by a sash—bulang. The breasts were uncovered except when appearing in front of a superior or entering the temple. Although the Balinese are accustomed to go nude above the waist, for both men and women, etiquette dictates that the breast must be covered for formal dress.

The priests are dressed in white only, still.

Reference: Het Land der Duizend Tempels (The Land of the Thousand Temples) A Guidebook and Souvenir of BALI.

BALI and JAVA –a bit of history

When Hinduism spread to Java and the two powerful kingdoms—Pajajaran in the western and Mojopait in the eastern part of the island—were firmly established, Bali became a vassal state of the latter. Around middle of the 15^th century, however, Islam came to be the main religion on Java, and Bali, once again independent, provided a safe haven for many religious refugees from the Mojopait kingdom.

Since then the Hindu-Javanese and their descendants lived there undisturbed… that is, till the arrival of the Dutch and their VOC—the Dutch East India Company. For Bali that was the year 1597, and the first Hollanders visiting Bali described the island as overflowing with milk and honey. In 1620 the Company established its first trading post in Buleleng from where its representatives traded with the island's kings. The more specific task of these representatives was to enter into trade agreements with the kings for the supply of… slaves!

Herman Willem Daendels, the 36^th Governor-General of the Netherlands Indies (1808-1811) assigned a Lieutenant-Quartermaster with the title of Resident to the island for the specific purpose of procuring as many slaves as the kings would release.

These slaves were presumably needed to replenish the ones working on the Great Post Road linking Anyer (west of Jakarta) with Panarukan (east of Surabaya) as the death toll was horrendous. This road with a length of 1000 km was completed in one year using forced labour, a truly astonishing feat, but at the cost of tens of thousands lives. Regional heads along the route were obliged to provide labour and construct their relevant road section within a specified time. Those who did not achieve their target were killed together with their labourers, and their heads strung from the trees along the route. Daendels, who by that time was called the Iron Marshall, never showed mercy, but the road was completed within one year.



Great Post Road at Pasuruan - 1890

                           Great Post Road

In the early fifties of last century, when I attended primary school in Holland, we were taught about our national hero Daendels and the great things he had accomplished!

Indonesian history books do, of course, hold a different opinion.

Interestingly, Raffles (A History of Java, Volume 1 and Volume 2) held the bunch of administrators he had sent fleeing to Bandung in contempt. The landing of the British forces at Tanjung Priok had been completely unopposed—the only casualty suffered by the landing forces was a marine accidentally shooting himself in the foot when scrambling overboard.

And ironically the Great Post Road had been built to be able to quickly mobilise defenders when, as foreseen many years before the fact, the British would attack.

References:  Wikipedia and Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam

 

                                      

BALI –and more touristic objects and sights, 1930

Het Land der Duizend Tempels (The Land of the Thousand Temples) A Guidebook and Souvenir of BALI.

And so we have reached the fifth day of the 6-day programme. In the morning from Denpasar to Bangli where the Kehen temple is visited. On to Penelokan—great view of the Batur active volcano and Batur lake—and Kintamani. Lunch and overnight stay in the KPM guesthouse at Kintamani. This guesthouse had 6 rooms which cost 10 guilders per night. A government guesthouse with 8 rooms at 7 guilders per night was also available in Kintamani.

If so desired the Batur lake could be visited in the afternoon.



Mount Batur and lake

http://www.balistarisland.com/Bali-Interesting-Place/Kintamani.htm



The sixth and last day of the programme one has to leave Kintamani early as the KPM steamer back to Java leaves around midday.



no wonder...



The trip goes to Kubutambahan and the Madruwe Karang temple there, and Tejakula. After crossing a great many, mostly dry rivers, there suddenly is an abundance of water in Tejakula.

The main attractions in Tejakula are the pools—separated by gender—and a separate one for horses.

An interesting snippet of information: the guesthouse is no longer operational, at least not in the hospitality sector, but now (1930) functions as a sales outlet for opium.

To be continued…

BALI –more touristic objects and sights, 1930

Het Land der Duizend Tempels (The Land of the Thousand Temples) A Guidebook and Souvenir of BALI.

This is the fourth day of the 6-day programme. Early morning departure for Klungkung via Gelgel where the Kerta-ghosa (Justice Pavilion) is visited. Somewhere during the past 80 years the Justice Pavilion will have fallen into disuse because in 2009 announcement appeared in Bali News of which an excerpt follows…

The Italian embassy will launch a restoration effort on the Kertagosa complex in Klungkung, in cooperation with several other parties on May 30th, an official report said… The restoration will focus on the “Justice Pavilion” and the refurbishment of the Museum wing hosting the works of the Italio-Balinese artist Emilio Ambron. http://balinews.asia/2009/05/italy-to-help-restore-kerta-ghosa-complex/

From there on to Karangasem with a stop at the Bat Cave (Goa Lawah).



Goa Lawah

http://blog.baliwww.com/guides/698 



In Karangasem, after lunch at the guesthouse, the programme included a visit of the Water Palace in Ujung. The Water Palace is part of the Puri Agung Karangasem, home of the royal family of Karangasem, and covers three palaces built by the last Raja in the early 20th century: Puri Agung, Taman Ujung (the Water Palace) and Taman Tirtagannga.

<div style="font-family:arial, sans-serif; font-size:10px; background-color:#ffffff; border: 1px solid #dddddd; width: 550px; margin: 0 auto 5px auto; padding:4px"><a href="http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-photo/jollyjetsetter/1/1221844157/taman-ujung-water-palace.jpg/tpod.html"><img alt="Taman Ujung Water Palace, Bali, Indonesia" src="http://images.travelpod.com/users/jollyjetsetter/1.1221844157.taman-ujung-water-palace.jpg" /></a><br/>This <a href="http://www.travelpod.com">travel blog</a> photo's source is TravelPod page: <a href="http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jollyjetsetter/1/1221844157/tpod.html">To &#39;Kuta&#39; long story short....</a></div>

Water Palace - 1930
Het Land der Duizend Tempels

The return trip is via Selat and Rendang  and Bukit Jambul from where one has a wonderful view of the Klungkung plain.

To be continued…

BALI –the touristic objects and sights, 1930

Het Land der Duizend Tempels (The Land of the Thousand Temples) A Guidebook and Souvenir of BALI. The visitors would typically disembark at Buleleng. In the booklet the town is described as not very attractive and because of the hectic bustle imposed by the tight shipping schedules, the graceful Balinese and their elegant temples are not found there.



Bali tourist map, 1930



After visiting the Tourism Association in Singaraja and finalising the logistics, the first destination of the 6-day trip was Gitgit some 13 km south of Buleleng. At 600 m above sea level it provided a magnificent view of the Buleleng plain. Returning to Singaraja a stop would be made at Bratan to visit the weaving and silver crafts of the area.

Then west along the north coast to Bubunan and southward to Munduk for lunch at its guesthouse. In 1930 this trip took less than two hours by car. The sights along the road: a monument to honour the lieutenants Stegman and Nijs who with 20 men died there fighting the Balinese in 1865; the split gate of the temple of Bubunan; and the view from the guesthouse.

After lunch the journey would be continued to Denpasar via Tabanan (sights: carvings on the gate of the market building), Kapal (sights: a holy spring with a holy eel that comes out of its hole only when called by the priest of the nearby Prasada temple), and Lukluk (sights: beautiful temple with an enormous Waringin tree (ficus benjamina), aka Weeping Fig, or Ficus Tree.

The night would be spent in one of the two (!) hotels in Denpasar. One of these is the old KPM hotel, built in 1928. I believe it still exists. it is located on both sides of one of Denpasar's main streets. The name escapes me.



Legong dance

 After dinner a gamelan performance with the famous dancer I Maria.

The next day (Saturday) to Kedaton for a performance, 8 to 10 am, of the lègong and jangèr dances. After the dances to Kuta and Jimbaran, and back to Denpasar.

On Sunday a daytrip to the Elephant Cave near Bedulu, and on to Gunung Kawi—meaning Carving in the Mountain, a 10th century Hindu temple complex where ten seven-metre-high memorials are carved into the rock face. According to legend, these ruined temples are the memorial shrines of the king's concubines and his family.



Gunung  Kawi



Lunch would be taken at the guesthouse in Tirta Empul, and in the afternoon visits to the temple and holy springs of Tirta Empoel.

On the return journey a stop would be made in Ubud. In those days not known for its artists and the variety of its culinary outlets, but for an intricately carved gamelan and the Panajaran—the place where the Anak Agung prays and makes offerings.

To be continued…

BALI –how-to-get-there in the early days

Het Land der Duizend Tempels (The Land of the Thousand Temples) A Guidebook and Souvenir of BALI. In the previous blog I wrote that the booklet advises on sightseeing trips the tourists can make: the ones for those staying at least six days, and also a compressed version for a 3-day programme. Although the latter version is included, the writer wonders why anybody would want to "see" the island in three days. One would need to race from north to south and from south to east, neither having time to ask questions nor to let the impressions sink in, and ultimately not seeing anything. The writer recommends a minimum stay of one week.

In the old days Bali could be reached in two ways: the comfortable easy way by KPM ship from Surabaya, Makassar, Semarang, Palembang, Jakarta (Batavia)and even Singapore to Buleleng. The second route was far less comfortable and also a tad dangerous—by train to Banyuwangi and from there crossing the Bali Strait by outrigger prahu to Penginuman, a few km south of Gilimanuk, or alternatively to the more distant fisher village of Candicusuma. If a rental car had been arranged beforehand, Denpasar could be reached in several hours through a dusty, barren and nearly deserted landscape without any interesting features or sights.

Quite clearly Tanah Lot became a tourist site only later. Imagine the writer, von Faber, accidentally stumbling across the site. Why didn't you tell me about this? Why do I have to find this because we were looking for a secluded beach? He is exasperated and looks like he wants to strangle his guide. You never asked, is the impassive reply.

                                                          Tanah Lot

                                                      

                     

The adventurous and less comfortable option, the crossing by outrigger prahu, was, however, the preferred one for those coming to Bali to hunt. You read that correctly, to hunt…! And what's more, to hunt big game! That sounds like tigers. And yes it was!  Wikipedia gives the following information on the Bali tiger.

The Bali Tiger (Panthera tigris balica), harimau Bali in Indonesian, or referred to as samong in archaic Balinese language, was a subspecies of Tiger which was found solely on the small Indonesian island of Bali. This was one of three sub-species of tiger found in Indonesia, together with the Javan Tiger, which is also extinct, and the critically endangered Sumatran Tiger. It was the smallest of the Tiger subspecies. The sub-species became extinct because of habitat loss and hunting. Given the small size of the island, and limited forest cover, the original population could never have been large.

In Balinese culture, the tiger had a special place in folk tales and traditional arts, like in the Kamasan paintings of Klungkung kingdom. However, they were perceived as a destructive force and culling efforts were encouraged all the way to the time of extinction.

A final blow to the island's already low tiger population came during the Dutch colonial period, when hunting trips were conducted by European sportsmen coming from Java, armed with high powered rifles and a romantic but disastrous Victorian hunting mentality. Surabayan gun maker E. Munaut is confirmed to have killed over twenty Bali tigers in only a few years.



one of the last...



The comfortable crossing was to Buleleng, the harbour of Singaraja where the Official Association for Tourism in the Netherlands Indies (Officiele Vereniging voor Toeristenverkeer in Nederlandsch-Indië) had an office. Tourists were advised to visit the office of the Association before setting off, as the latest information on special events and cremations would be available there. The office would also assist in reserving rooms in the hotels and guesthouses along the way.

To be continued…