Bali - Chillies!!!

One thing that I really loved about traveling in Asia was that I found people in that region feel about chile (as in hot food) kindda in the same way mexicans do.

This is something I've never gotten used to while living in France. I find it's really hard for french people to understand that chile for us is not simply a question about food being hot or burning your tongue or giving a spicy flavor to your meal, it goes way beyond that. Chile in Mexico is considered an important, if not central, element in the mexican cuisine repertoire and the only way I've found I can explain this to the French is by comparing it to the way they feel about their cheese.

Which of course shocks them.

But when I spoke to Balinese and Cambodians and Singaporians and Indonesians and even Indians (although their type of "hot" comes more from spices than from chilies, which might seem the same to you, but is a whole different matter for us!) all of them really understood what I mean. That chile for us is not simply a matter of green or red peppers.

There are literally several hundreds of types of chile peppers in Mexico, each one with a different consistency, color, shape and of course flavor. There are so many different ways to cook them and prepare them and eat them that to this day, whenever I go back home at some point I usually come upon types of peppers I've never heard about before.

Like with any other food item with such a wide variety, chiles have quality rankings, traditional combination rules and preparation methods. It might seem to you that the red hot sauce that is served with your burrito is a relatively simple blend of tomato, chilies and lesser important ingredients. To us, it will make all the difference to our taste buds weather that sauce is made from chile Guajillo, chile Ancho or chile Pasilla.

Be it used fresh, dried, dehidrated, in powder, from a can or in perseves.... each type has its use or particular dish and I love that about our cuisine!! I might be in the mood for a few scoops of Pico de gallo (made with fresh small green serrano chillies) with my quesadilla but not for Salsa Macha (made with dried and fried chile de arbol seco)... Chilaquiles made with fresh Habaneros will just taste completely OFF for me, while a cebuche with chunks of can jalapeno chilies will make for a poor dish. Fresh jicamas sprinkled with dry chile piquin is an absolute delight but mango drowned in Valentina sauce tastes aweful (and this coming from a mega Valentina fan).

Anyway, you get the idea.

Although Bali isn't exactly like that as far as I could tell (by which I mean chile is not the central part of most traditional dishes) it is an important ingredient in their cuisine.

Walking in the market I came accross several different types of peppers ranging in sizes, colors and from what I could smell (to the astonished eyes of the vendors), flavors. Several dishes I tasted throughout the trip made me realize that different peppers were used in different dishes which brought on a whole new level of respect for their cuisine... anyone who knows how to adequetly mix chillies into a dish to make the best out of each spicy and different flavor automatically gains the respect of this mexican.


It definetly made me long for a good bowl of Pipian or some Enmoladas or a couple of Tortas ahogadas or ... or.... or.....


Ahhhhhhhhhhh!! Great! Now I've gone and made myself hungry!! :(


Fned.