A bumbu is on the stove; a pivotal ingredient in Balinese cuisine, the paste of chillies, garlic, shallots, candlenut, nutmeg, ginger, turmeric, palm sugar, shrimp paste and lemon grass bubbles away.
But you won't find bumbu being used in most of the tourist restaurants around the island, warns our teacher, Swiss chef Heinz von Holzen, who brushes off our guesses at what Bali's indigenous dishes might be. Forget gado gado - mixed vegetables with peanut sauce, originally a Javanese dish. Nasi goreng and mie goreng - fried rice and fried noodles - are a Chinese import. And some form of satay, meat on a stick, is pretty much found in every major global cuisine.
Though as with many cuisines it's about getting four flavours in the right balance - sweet, salty, sour and hot - Bali's cuisine is different and if you don't know what you're looking for, how are you going to find it? A cooking class is a good first foray into the world of fresh spices that Balinese food blooms from. Here are some choices; all classes cook meals as a group rather than individually.
Jalan Raya Gelumpang, Gelumpang Village, Amlapura, Karangasem,
tel: +62 828 9703 0098