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Indonesian food is, unquestionably, some of
the most delicious in the world. There isn't much subtlety about it, but
what a great awakening for your taste buds! This doesn't mean that every
dish is hot or pungent, but there's always a combination of sweet and sour
and salty tastes; unexpectedly gentle coconut-milk sauces fragrant with
lemon grass or other herbs; crisp textured accompaniments; hot sambal to
be tasted in tiny quantities; all of which create an awareness that what
you are eating is not just body fuel but an expression of culinary
artistry.
Indonesian recipes and cooking combines the spicy flavors of chilies, herbs
and other aromatic seasonings with the sweetness of fresh coconut, palm
sugar and peanuts, and the sourness of limes, lemon grass and tamarind.
Meals are often served with small bowls of sambal, spicy relishes made
from combinations of coconut, chili and shrimp paste.
Sweets are mostly made from glutinous
rice, but don't shrug them off with the thoughts of rice pudding - there's
not the slightest resemblance. The rice might be steamed in tiny baskets
woven of fresh leaves, sweetened with palm sugar, flavored with fragrant
leaves and flowers; or it might be ground and cooked with coconut milk to
a smooth paste, flavored and colored and poured in unbelievably fine
alternate layers of white and green or pink or yellow or chocolate. |