Tuak is palm beer, a sudsy and quite mild elixir brewed from palm tree sap. Tuak is produced by fermenting the sap of flower bud of any of a number of species palm. In Bali, coconut tree, called punyan nyuh, is most often used because of the trees are quite common. In areas where sugar palms, punyan jaka, palm trees, grow, their juice is used. In north and east Bali, the lontar palm, called punyan ental, is used for tuak. The problem with ental, however, is that the leaf-bearing branch of the tree is full of thorns.

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There are two kinds of tuak; tuak manis, “sweet,” (sometimes called nguda, “young”) and tuak wayah, “old.” The difference between the two is in taste and alcohol content, with tuak wayah being “dryer” and more potent. Tuak manis is fresh from the tree, and it has a fairly high sugar content because the fermentation process has not gone very long. Most connoisseurs avoid tuak manis because it causes stomach problems, flatulence, and diarrhea. But it does have a following. The preferred drink is tuak wayah. It has a much stronger taste than manis, with a definite alcoholic flavor. Somewhat sour, and not unlike heavily hopped beer. Like beer, it is an acquired taste. But an awful lot of Balinese seem to have acquired it.

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The traditional Balinese cuisine is a rare art that cannot be learn perfectly at cooking course, it has to be learn in the preparation of a ceremony since the traditional Balinese cuisine is dedicated mainly for the ceremonial purpose and the authenticity of the flavor cannot be achieved in the cooking course.

The basic obstacle in learning traditional Balinese cuisine is the spices. There are many kind of spices used in the traditional Balinese cuisine and there is no exact measurement on the quantity of spices used in a cooking process, all depends on the chef preference. Moreover, there is no standard for the traditional Balinese cuisine every village has its own way of cooking and the use of spices.

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