After school, Denpasar teenagers especially the female do not go back home directly. They come by to the modest warung (a small roadside stall that sells snacks, drinks and convenient household items. However, in Bali a warung is also the local coffee house, corner store and community meeting spot for neighbours to sit and exchange the latest news or gossip. Warung that sell top three Balinese foods is flocked in the middle of the day. What are they?

Plecing is made from 90% swamp cabbage that has been boiled. Those swamp cabbages are tattered using fingers and very hot spicy sauce made from 90% chili, tomatoes, and shrimp paste is poured on them. Sometimes the sellers offer them whether they want to mix it with kuah pindang (sauce resulted from boiled fish) or not.

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As far as we know, in general bazaar is done by selling goods, foods, or sometimes items made by hand. It is normally sold with low price to attract people. Based on the Oxford Dictionary the definition of the word “bazaar” is a sale of goods, often items made by hand, to raise money for a charity or for people who need help. But there is a unique characteristic in bazaar a la Balinese. Before going further I’d like to share my friend’s experience about this kind of bazaar.

He is a Balinese but he was born and grew up in Jakarta. He came back to his home town to study in university. One day his uncle told him that there was bazaar in his banjar (ward) and he was so excited for that. When he got there he was surprised. Do you know why? Well, all the prices are twice more expensive than the normal ones. He was startled because in his thought he is going to buy food or goods in low price like in Jakarta.

In the era of 70s in Sanur, bazaar was held in Galungan only (Christmas a la Balinese ) by the member of the banjar ( hamlet / ward ) in order to give its community a chance to spend their money for snacks since all food stalls were closed during that day. And not all food, drinks or goods were sold in high price; only liquors such as beer, tuak, or arak (Balinese wine) were sold in inflated price to generate some profits and then the profit would be used to repair the banjar or temple on that area. But with the passing of the time there is a different concept arises in carrying out the bazaar.

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If you happen to stay or visit Ubud right now or plan to take a trip to Ubud, don’t forget to include Ibu Oka’s Suckling Pig to your places-to-eat list. Why?

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Here are the reasons:

Chubby Hubby in chubbyhubby.net wrote:
Ibu Oka is a small, slightly dingy open-air restaurant located smack in the middle of Ubud town. You have to go early (ideally around 1030am), firstly to avoid the queues, but also (and more importantly) to ensure that you won’t arrive only to be told that they are sold out (the restaurant only prepares a couple each day). While there are a few variations, order the “pisah”, which translates to a plate full of everything: soft, succulent meat, crispy skin, deep-fried intestines, more pork meat mixed with spices, and a chilli-vegetable relish. This is served with rice. Order your meal, take off your shoes and head into the dining area. Sit on the floor and dig into one of the most transcendental food experiences of your life; it really is an almost religious experience.

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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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Every culture has their way of drinking, there even rules for drinking, Balinese also has a way in drinking, especially for traditional liquors- Tuak and Arak. Tuak is a sweet wine made from the coconut palm flower, while Arak is strong liquors distilled from tuak. For Balinese drink liquors is men prerogative. In old days there is no woman drinks arak or tuak but with the passing of the time women start to drink tuak but never arak (too strong for woman) it is not discrimination, Balinese believe that arak is dangerous for womb. Women usually drink tuak secretly or in house compound not in public (warung stalls, on the road side, or balai banjar/sub village public hall) as men do.

Drinking for Balinese is usually for recreational purposes. We drink to strengthen the friendship among friends and to make a friend among strangers. There is an old saying among teenagers, it runs “cigarette and liquors are tools for making friends. It is common for Balinese to invite a stranger to join a “drink circle”. (We usually sit in a circle while drinking).We seldom drink for stress relieving purpose or Drink for Drunk (drink for the sake of getting drunk) drinking for recreational purpose can be a very creative way of drinking. Balinese usually sing while drinking, this habit originated genjek tradition.

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A warung is an Indonesian term for a small roadside stall that sells snacks, drinks and convenient household items. However, in Bali a warung is also the local coffee house, corner store and community meeting spot for neighbours to sit and exchange the latest news or gossip.

Every village has at least a dozen warung’s that serve the daily needs of locals and anyone else who happens to pass by. Some warung’s are crude makeshift structures of bamboo and oddments of timber, while others may be a more permanent construction built as an afterthought on the outer perimeter of the family compound.

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