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Bali Part 20
Michael Taylor has just returned from Bali, where he spent three weeks exploring the sights, sampling the food, learning about the culture, and checking out what’s hot and what’s not in one of Southeast Asia’s most exciting travel destinations.
While his trip has ended in real time, it will continue in Cyberspace for another week. Today he reminisces about a sumptuous dinner prepared by Celebrity Chef Bjorn Jozefus van Veggel at di Mare, an outdoor fine dining restaurant at Karma Kandara, where he spent three nights.
Degustation Menu
I had dinner at di Mare with Rochelle Kilgariff, General Manager of Karma Kandara, on my second night at the stunningly beautiful boutique hotel. Executive Chef Bjorn Jozefus van Veggel prepared a mouth-watering five course degustation menu for us.
If truth be told, this was the finest meal I enjoyed during my 21 night stay in Bali.
Here’s what we were served:
- Amuse Buche – Yabby Tarar, melted duck, red onion compote, water cress, and port reduction.
- Starter – King Crab, semi dried tomato, Parmesan cheese foam, endive, wild rocket, and borage.
- Warm Starter – Open Lobster Ravioli, chermoula spices, wild spinach, Parmesan, cherry tomato, and garlic clouds.
- Main Course – New Zealand Lamb Rack, celeriac puree, croquette from lamb, roasted tomato, and sauce from caramelized garlic and honey.
- Dessert – Strawberry Romanoff, fresh Bedugul strawberries, vodka, mascarpone, and balsamic ice cream.
What a delectable meal! The starters innovative and yummy. The lamb was thickly cut, juicy, and rare – just the way I like it.
And that balsamic ice cream was a very pleasant surprise. Nuanced and layered, it was a bit like savouring fine wine. The complex flavours just kept evolving in your mouth.
Meet Your Celebrity Chef
A Dutch national, Chef Bjorn Jozefus van Veggel worked in the kitchens of some of the top restaurants in the Netherlands for 12 years before heading to Bali to head the kitchen at Chedi Club Ubud, a five star boutique hotel, where he served at Chef de Cuisine for four years.
In June 2012, Bjorn was recruited by Karma Kandara, a boutique hotel perched on the southernmost tip of Bali, to take charge of two of its food and beverage outlets.
