After spending quite a bit of time in Indonesia, I had made it my goal to try as many different Indonesian recipes as I possibly can. From the classic Nasi Goreng to the more adventurous Nasi Campur and Tempeh Sates, I must have spent hours hopping in between local markets and warungs in search of adventurous things that look interesting, yet leave me puzzled about what they’re actually made from even after tasting them, such as the traditional laklak pancakes, klepon (Balinese sticky rice balls) and pepes vegetables (steamed or grilled banana wrapped veggies).
The inexplicable aroma, colour and flavour of everything I was so fascinated to try got me pretty curious to not only find out what my Indonesian super mouthwatering experiments are made from but also how to prepare them. So without wasting any more time, I found the sweetest most genuine and truly authentic local lady called Dewi to learn a bit of Balinese cooking from.
Contents
Meet Dewi and Caraway
I swear sometimes I genuinely think I’m unbelievably lucky and I probably shouldn’t be saying this so I don’t jinx it or something 😀 but honestly, I somehow manage to find and connect with the most warm-hearted and amiable local people. Dewi from Caraway Cooking Class Bali definitely is one of those people.
I stumbled upon Dewi’s cooking classes initially on TripAdvisor as I was trying to find an eco-conscious cooking class to join in Sanur, Bali. Excited by the happy photos I saw on TripAdvisor and Dewi’s relatively single-use plastic free kitchen, I was intrigued to find out more. So I went to meet up with Dewi who welcomed me at her house at 6 pm on a Tuesday evening.
I was welcomed by a smiling ear to ear lovely Indonesian lady who opened the doors of her house to me as if she was welcoming a friend. I was touched already! She offered me a seat and a drink and answered all my (dozens) questions with an avid passion and love for what she’s doing. What was super sweet was that just after 10-15 minutes into our conversation (which by the way took about 45 min of her time in the end), I could already feel like I was bonding with her.
She was so personal, telling me about her family, history with cooking, daily routine and how she would go to bed at 8 – 9 pm every evening to be able to wake up at 4 am every single day to start preparing for the morning classes. I was blown away by Dewi’s openness to share but also her unbelievable dedication to what she does. I mean, how happily would you wake up every single day at 4 am to go to work?! But Dewi was happy, enthusiastic and evidently looking forward to the next day’s classes.
So I was hooked up, I wanted to spend more time around Dewi and learn a thing or two from her about the Balinese recipes she had crafted for her classes. So I was ready to join her class as early as the next morning.
The next morning you could see me flying with my scooter to get to my cooking class, pumped with excitement and ready to connect, cook, learn, meet other people and have fun. You can tell I was buzzing 😀
I had arranged to meet Dewi and the rest of our group at the Intaran local market in Sanur where we headed for some shopping ahead of the class but really mainly to learn about the traditional spices and local things most of us had never seen before, like cassava roots, fresh turmeric and even exotic fruits like mangosteen and jackfruit.
After a pretty cool walk around the market and experiencing the real local way of shopping, we headed to Dewi’s house ready to put on the cooking aprons and roll up our sleeves to make some heavenly dishes 😀 But first, there was a welcome drink! YES, a welcome drink – a lovely lemony beverage served on a wooden table graciously placed in the middle of the entrance area, already set up beautifully for the buffet lunch that was gonna follow after all the cooking was finished.
I haven’t done a whole load of cooking classes but as soon as we all sipped on our drinks and lined up around a massive cooking table, I knew this class was going to be different. We weren’t going to be singled out doing our own thing but we were instead going to work as a little team of 10 chefs with 3 cooking instructors to produce a total of 7 Indonesian dishes.
Our Caraway Cooking Class Bali Menu
What I really loved about Dewi’s menu was that it wasn’t just a classic Nasi Goreng and Mie Goreng kinda menu where all that we would learn were the 2 most classic, and to be honest most boring 😀 , dishes. Instead, we were going deep into the Indonesian cuisine with extravagant and pretty hard recipes such a Balinese rendang and spring rolls.
Our menu included:
- Beef rendang
- Satay chicken
- Spring rolls
- Sweet spicy fried tempeh
- Pecel peanut sauce with vegetables
- Veggie tofu & tempeh curry
- Dessert: Cassava pudding
However, as it turned out Dewi likes to have a different menu every day so that people can pick and choose when to join depending on the dishes they want to cook. Having said that, our menu was adapted to accommodate for mine and one other lady’s vegetarian diet so we ended up making the tempeh dishes as well which weren’t meant to be on the usual 5 dishes Wednesday menu.
I was also pretty impressed by how accommodating and super understanding Dewi and her friendly helpers (2 of Dewi’s local friends) were when I told them I would love some tempeh added to the standard veggie curry recipe to get some protein in (sorryyyyy, I just love my protein 😀 ).
Like I mentioned already, the menu changes every day (but can be adapted upon request), so go over to Dewi’s website to check it out.
The experience continued …
Our team was bonding. I was the only non-Australian chef enthusiast but I was quickly starting to feel part of the team. Some were chopping, others were mashing all the veggies for the curry pastes, whilst the most excited were already by the stoves ready to make the rice wraps for the spring rolls and fry up the peanuts for the legendary Balinese peanuts sauces (yes, turned out the recipe for the peanut sauce is different depending on the dish it goes with).
I was loving the whole thing! The ladies were going around showing us how to roll the spring rolls, make coconut cream, mash up the ingredients for the curry, season the chicken for the sate and it all felt like a big family making Christmas dinner or something super grant involving plenty of food and ever so rapidly growing appetite and hunger as the increasing yummy smells were starting to tease all the senses.
As if Dewi and the ladies read our minds, or maybe we were not so secretly licking our lips and rubbing our tummies ready to get stuffed with the freshly deep-fried spring rolls, when they said “Snack tiiiiime“. HOORAAAAY!
If was time to dig into the plate full of still sizzling spring rolls and pour a dash of sweet sauce all over them to satiate some of that growing appetite. And Goooosh, weren’t they the most heavenly spring rolls I have ever tried! Maybe it was the joined preparation or the hunger but these spring rolls were DELICIOUS!
Much happier now that we had fuller tummies and even greater excitement for all the other food still to come, we went back behind the stoves to finish off the rest of the dishes. Another session of stirring, frying and mashing followed and after another couple of hours, there we were – ready to plate everything and indulge on an overflowing with food buffet lunch.
Everything we made was looking tasty but what blew me away was the flavour. All the food I tasted was absolutely delightful (full disclosure: being a vegetarian I didn’t try the meaty dishes). So much flavour and aroma were coming from every single dish. I even liked the smell of the meat dishes which was odd but just comes to prove how well-prepared everything was. I’m not gonna sugar coat it, it was an absolute feast .. so much food, so many refills but how can you blame us. It was THAT delicious. I even ended up filling up my reusable box for dinner before leaving.
Tip: When you go to the cooking class, take a little box with you to take home some of the many leftovers. I always bring a box with me to avoid using single-use plastic so it definitely came in handy this time as well when I packed some of the delicious tempeh and peanut sauce veggies for my dinner later 😀 !!
Where exactly is Caraway Cooking Class Bali
Dewi’s Caraway Cooking Class is located in the rapidly growing in popularity town of Sanur in Bali, on the east coast of the island (see exact address below).
If you’re not really planning a trip to Sanur, DO IT! Learn how to make yummy Balinese dishes whilst escaping from the busy towns like Ubud and the famous surfing spots such as Canggu and Seminyak.
What’s so so cool and I must admit rather unique is that Dewi’s classes are actually held in her house so as soon as I entered, I stepped into her perfectly ordered, polished to perfection open kitchen which I thought was the biggest sign that this was gonna be a truly personal experience.
What is pretty awesome actually is that Dewi picks up all her students in the morning right from their hotel in Sanur so if you stay in town, you don’t even have to worry about finding the place. Pretty hassled free right!
For those like me who decide to stay outside of Sanur, in Sukawati in my case, I suggest getting to Dewi’s house on a good old scooter, either one you rent out and drive yourself (price should be around IDR 50-60k a day) or get a Grab, aka the local scooter taxi, to drop you off at the address.
Caraway Cooking Class Bali Details
Timetable & Pricing
Morning Classes:
09:00 AM – 13:00 PM
IDR 550,000 pp
(Vegetarian: IDR 500,000 pp)
Evening Classes:
16:00 PM – 19:00 PM
IDR 500,000 pp
(Vegetarian: IDR 450,000 pp)
Group Size
The maximum group size is 12 people but don’t worry, Dewi has the most amazing ladies helping her out during the classes so you definitely will have all the personal attention and coaching you need to make the most of the class. Plus the more, the merrier right <3 !
Full Address
Caraway Cooking Class
Jl. Penyaringan III No.37,
Sanur 80227
Denpasar Bali
Indonesia
Contact Details
Dewi’s phone number: +62 812-3835-5777
This is Dewi’s personal number and I can tell you from experience that she definitely replies to all her messages so if you have a question, definitely send her a WhatsApp text or give her a quick call.
Instagram: Dewicaraway
Website: www.carawaycookingclass.com
Overall opinion about Caraway Cooking Class Bali
My cooking class with Dewi, the Australian gang 😀 and Dewi’s lovely helpful ladies genuinely could not have been any better. I was amazed by how different and homey the whole experience felt, how accommodating and fun the ladies were and how conscious they were at the market where they turned up with their textile bags and only purchased single-use plastic where impossible to avoid it.
Bali is very far from a single-use plastic solution but Dewi and the ladies seemed to try and play their part at least where physically possible and I must admit that made me feel good.
If there is only one final thing I have to say, that is to go ahead and book your cooking class with Dewi. You’re guaranteed to have a fun and truly personal experience full of laughter, new friends, amazing flavours and skills to prepare you to make some of your favourite Indonesian recipes at home.
As I was leaving Dewi’s house, I genuinely felt like I had made friends that day. I hugged Dewi and the ladies Goodbye as I thanked them for their time, positivity, friendliness and guidance. I felt so well connected with these genuine, warm-hearted and smiley ladies that we promised to see each other again and next time to help each other, me with their English and them with my Indonesian. This is how quickly I’ve bonded with Dewi and her friends and I wholeheartedly could not have picked a better cooking class for the connections, the skills, the fun and my happy tummy which was already looking forward to my packed dinner 😀 !
“See you again soon” – we said to one another and I rushed back on my scooter happy, smiling ear to ear and 3 amazing friends richer.
Looking for more recipes on Indonesia?
- What to Eat in Indonesia: The Best Local Recipes
- Don’t Attempt the Hike to the Kelimutu Lakes before Reading This
Liked this post? Pin it for later
My brother suggested I would possibly like this
website. He was totally right. This submit truly made my day.
You can not believe just how much time I had spent for this info!
Thank you! https://nicolitalia.com/
Aaaw I’m so so glad it was helpful! I am constantly adding more and more content to the blog so pleeeease do come back and let me know if you have any questions I can help you with. Would love to!