“Although the raw food movement hasn’t quite gathered momentum in Jakarta, you can still easily create delicious raw and/or vegetarian food at home,” says Petty Elliott.
Raw and vegetarian food has gained much popularity in recent years, most notably among the health conscious and adventurous eaters of the US and Europe. Although there is a large community here in Jakarta favouring vegetarian or raw diets for health or religion reasons, there still aren’t many restaurants offering this kind of cuisine.
There are many innovative ways of enjoying raw food; from raw fish to vegetables, such as sashimi, ceviche (a Peruvian dish of raw fish marinated in a tangy broth of citrus juices, chilli and salt), ikan gohu (Manadonese or Moluccas style sashimi) salad, rujak (tropical fruit salad), raw gado-gado (mixed vegetables with raw peanut sauce, chilies with tamarind or lime juice) and raw soup, but it is quite challenging to create raw and also vegetarian food at the same time.
By no means am I dedicated to raw and vegetarian food, but I do think it’s beneficial to enjoy raw and vegetarian food from time to time as it is easy to prepare and healthy. Serious raw food followers believe that the human body is not designed to eat cooked food but they do permit heating the food to below 40 degrees C (to avoid enzymes disrupting the ingredients).
A couple of weeks ago, I gave a cooking demonstration and created around 10 different dishes using local ingredients for a very special event, the pre-event of the 7th Women’s International Conference to be held in Bali from 4 to 5th April, organized by International Association of Human Value and The Art of Living Foundation. I am sharing with you three simples and delicious raw and vegetarian recipes from the event. Enjoy!
Sliced Banana, Coconut Sugar and Young Coconut Mousse
It is so easy to make coconut mousse with young coconut flesh. Choose young flesh (but not which is transparent, with a jelly-like texture).
Serves 4-6
4 large ripe pisang ambon, local Cavendish or Cavendish bananas
2-3 whole young coconut flesh (flesh scooped out with a spoon)
1 tablespoon cinnamon powder
Directions
1. For the coconut mousse: simply put the young coconut flesh into a blender and process the mixture until silky and smooth. Transfer the mixture into a container and place in the freezer to set for 1 hour.
2. 10 minutes before serving, spread the coconut sugar and cinnamon powder on a large plate. Mix well. Cut the banana into round discs (around 1cm thick) and roll in the coconut sugar to cover. Leave banana for 10 minutes until the sugar melts a little.
3. Before serving, remove the young coconut mousse from the freezer; place 4-5 pieces of banana into each of the four serving glasses or martini glasses. Add 1-2 tablespoon of young coconut mousse. Sprinkle with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon powder and serve immediately.
