From dozens of tropical fruits that can be found in Bali, Salak or snake fruit is the oddest looking one. It is about the size and shape of a ripe fig usually round with a distinct tip, with an edible pulp; to peel, pinch the tip of the fruit and pull away. The fruit inside consists of three lobes, each lobe containing a large inedible seed. The lobes look and have the consistency of peeled garlic cloves, creamy yellow in color and have a sweet acid taste rather like a pineapple, but are crisp and crunchy. But the most distinctive feature of Salak is its reddish-brown scaly skin, and due to this feature salak is dubbed as snake fruit.

Salak plant needs high temperature and humidity throughout the year and also high and continuous water requirement. Due to this requirements, Salak plantations in Bali are concentrated in central and east Bali especially Karangasem Regency, especially in the southern slope of Mount Agung.

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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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