| Breakfast in Paradise
Rob Goodfellow Villa Kunang-Kunang in Bali, overlooking the Ayung River, is the perfect place for a spot of brekkie, writes Rob Goodfellow.
High in the cool, central highlands of the Island of Bali, far from the troubles of this world, is a small piece of paradise that has not been lost. The sun rises through the layers of mist that hang like white lace against the gold of the ripening harvest. It is sometime mid-morning and breakfast is served.
Located near the village of Ponggang, about 13 kilometres from the cultural centre of Ubud and another 13 kilometres from Mount Kintamani and Lake Batur, Villa Kunang-Kunang, which means ‘fireflies’ in Bahasa Indonesia, overlooks one of the sacred sources of the great Ayung River.
In the evening, light rains caress the buttressed slopes of the Payangan ridge. This fills the tiny streams that distribute life-giving water to the ancient rice terraces. From the spacious al fresco dining veranda, a guest is hypnotised by the extraordinary view, transfixed by the sheer peace and quiet, and charmed by the hospitality of Villa Kunang-Kunang’s gracious host, Ibu Murni.
The rare and endangered turquoise Balinese kingfisher is plentiful here. There is a sense of timelessness in this place.
The aroma of coffee is the first sign of the good things to come. Grown by local villagers – you can smell the beans as you drive up the road – the local product actually tastes different from other varieties of Balinese or Javanese coffee. The appetiser of fresh yoghurt and honey is a taste sensation. Murni’s mother created the 40-year-old culture and passed the secret on to her daughter for the benefit of future generations. The honey is dark in colour and piquant in taste. It is collected by hand from wild hives that thrive on the myriad of fragrant flowers that bloom almost all year round – frangipani, hibiscus and honeysuckle.
The Ubud region is famous for some of the most exotic fruits on earth – a veritable ‘Garden of Eden’ of mangoes, rambutans, papaya, mangosteens and lychees, which were planted in the Payangan area by Chinese merchants in the early 19th Century. Murni often asks her guests to describe the gorgeous taste of the mangosteen – a deep purple, soft-shelled fruit that can be opened by hand to reveal pure white, individual fleshy segments. Guests have variously described the fruit, which overflows an antique bowl in the middle of the breakfast table, as a blend of pear, banana, strawberry, apple, passionfruit, and honeydew melon.
Murni’s breakfast specialty, however, is bubur mebasa. Bubur means ‘porridge’ in Indonesian; basa means ‘spice’ in Balinese. This is considered an everyday Balinese breakfast for locals, but it’s an amazing delicacy for guests. The dish is both nutritious and sustaining. It is impossible to refuse a second, or even third helping.
The palate is refreshed with a selection of fresh juices – avocado, tomato, orange, mandarin, or tropical lime with crushed ice. Salak, an indigenous fruit with an exterior resembling snakeskin – easily peeled by hand exposes a firm, crisp flesh, that defies further description, but seems to encourage conversation, as the bowl of fruit empties, and the bowl of discarded skins overflows. Jackfruit coated with a thick ginger sauce is a fitting final temptation.
More coffee? It’s mid-day. The sea breeze gently rustles the bamboo. The sky is clear and blue. Time for lunch?
Rob Goodfellow
Tel: (62) 361 972146, Fax: (62) 361 972146, (62) 361 975282
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