Aaron Maree: Indonesia - Food Fanatics Dream

Thirty years in the food industry and I have to admit to having the great fortune to have experienced some truly amazing food.

From the most mundane to the most expensive I have enjoyed luxury items that many will never try, never afford and honestly, many would never want to try.

I love French fries, so my palette is not so refined, but add foie gras and Wagyu beef to those French fries and that sounds like the lunches I have enjoyed for the past few years…

I have also been blessed with the opportunity to have eaten and worked in Michelin Star outlets, some of the worlds best patisseries and worked alongside some of the best chefs in the global business of all things food.

It is therefore rare, that I am taken totally by surprise and floored by something unexpected in food. It does happen I am not saying that, but it is not often when my taste buds are tickled and blown clear out of the room by something that I just cant see coming.

Take therefore a warm, but wonderful morning recently in Padang Indonesia when a group of us where given the great honor of being police escorted up the mountains to a private home called Cameron House in Padang to meet the Mayor of Padang along with Miss Padang 2012, Dr Rika…

Breakfast was to be quick as the mayor had more important things to attend to, in the end, he stayed longer than we expected and our entire group was blown away with the friendliness and humor of our other guest Dr Reka., a true and absolute ambassador for her title.

But it was the food served at breakfast that was the true highlight. If you understood the company, the environment, the location high above the beaches of Padangs shoreline and the amazing day, then to say that the food was a highlight takes it all to a level of unbelievability.

And so it was a table full of individual dishes where sent out to us by the kitchen staff and those who waited upon us. 6-7 dishes, none of which individually took our appeal.

For those of us early to venture in we paired some rice with some meat dish and ate away, only to learn that the server at our table was meant to co-ordinate the dishes for us.

Taking a bowl, she place a rice cake, some milk porridge thickened with flour, some black sticky rice, some coconut milk and some banana cooked with sweet potato and served it to us.

It looked heavy. It looked like many dishes just placed on top of each other.

What it was from the first spoon full was SUBLIME gastronomy.

Just over a year ago I published the book ARABIAN DREAMS, taking Middle Eastern Desserts to a new level for the future of the cuisine.

So too had the dishes of Indonesia this morning in Padang been served to us in a manner that was worthy of their own book title.

The dish at the breakfast with the Mayor of Padang which took us by surprise. Served to us by the House Cook, she knew exactly what order to put everything and just how much sweet and plain, gorgeous and sensational to put into each of the plates. This dish looks like 5-6 dishes combined into one and that is exactly true....but the combination of flavors and textures was so sensational and perfect together that my mouth sang with the glory of the taste. Indonesia surprised my palate and I learnt much in this ethnic rich culturally diverse country...a land of many surprises.

But what it does show is that travelling to new cultures, new destinations and a place as amazing as Indonesia is more than about visiting shrines and houses and seeing beaches and shopping malls, it is about opening your mind to the culture, the heritage and the cuisine of the place in which you are visiting.

I am and always will be thankful to the Bahrain Indonesian Embassy for allowing me to travel this amazing country of theirs and to the Indonesian Ministry or Tourism and Creative Economy for fully sponsoring the event, so that I might be able to tell the world about Indonesia. It is more than you think. It is more than just Bali and beaches. Indonesia is a culturally diverse haven of history, culture, eco-friendly natural sites such as volcanoes and waterfalls, rice paddies , tea, coffee cocoa and fruit plantations and the home to some of the most delicious cuisine this chef has ever tasted.

Indonesia deserves your time.

It deserves to be visited by us all, not just because I say so, not just because the Bahrain Indonesian Embassy sent me there to report back upon it! No, it deserves to be visited by us all because it is different and until you have been there and experienced the wonders of Indonesia for yourself, you will never have tasted some of the most exquisite dishes that this chef, longs to return for.
Indonesia has Bali, but it also has so much more. Be surprised and visit somewhere new for a change.
Indonesia deserves your time and attention.

Garuda Airlines is set to begin direct services from Abu Dhabi to Jakarta in December 2012 with flights already being available from Jeddah to Jakarta, other countries and for connectors from Bahrain, consult your local travel agents.

Like a perfect tapas luncheon, the meals are often made up of many small dishes from which you take just a piece and combine it with rice, sauces and additions of your own choosing. I love this form of service. everyone is kept happy and for the adventurous, there are surprises just a dish away.