Tirta Empul & Melukat Purification
Start from$69 / person
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Land Tour
Balinese Cooking Class & Market Visit
The 6am market first, then eight dishes you actually cook
- Duration
- 7 hours door to door
- Group
- Private car, small class
- Difficulty
- Easy · everyone can do this
- Diets
- Vegetarian and vegan on request
The trip
What You're Signing Up For
The market at six in the morning is the part that makes this worth doing. Ubud's produce market runs before the tourist stalls open, and your teacher walks you through it explaining what things are, what they cost locally and why the same paste is made four different ways depending on which regency you are in.
Then you cook. Not a demonstration you watch: your own station, your own mortar, and around eight dishes including base gede, the spice paste that underpins most Balinese food. You eat everything you make, and you leave with the recipes.
Highlights
Why People Pick This One
- The 6am produce market before the tourist stalls open
- Your own cooking station, not a demonstration you watch from a stool
- Around eight dishes, including base gede from scratch
- Vegetarian and vegan versions of everything, if you say in advance
- A recipe booklet, and ingredients you can actually buy at home
Full description
The Whole Thing
Balinese food is built on base gede, a spice paste of shallot, garlic, galangal, turmeric, chilli, candlenut and a dozen other things, pounded rather than blended. Almost everything else on a Balinese table starts with it, and it is the reason the food tastes nothing like Thai or Indian cooking despite sharing ingredients.
You make it from raw ingredients in a stone mortar, which takes real effort and is the single most useful thing you will learn. Everything after that - sate lilit, lawar, urab, a proper sambal matah - is built on top of what is already in the bowl.
Tell us about allergies and diets when you book, not on the day. The shopping happens before you arrive at the kitchen.
Itinerary
The Trip, Stop By Stop
Timings are typical, not fixed. Your guide reshapes the day around your pace and the conditions.
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Early hotel pickup
Canggu, Seminyak, Kuta, Jimbaran, Sanur, Ubud
Around 06:00 if you want the market, later if you would rather skip it. Confirmed by message the evening before.
Included -
Ubud produce market
Around an hour walking the stalls with your teacher. Palm sugar, lesser galangal, snake fruit, the things you will use later.
-
Arrive at the kitchen
Coffee, aprons, and a look at the garden where the herbs come from.
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Cook
Roughly three hours. Base gede first, because everything else depends on it, then the dishes that use it.
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Eat what you made
At a long table, with everything you cooked. This is a full lunch, not a tasting.
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Back to your hotel
Same car, same driver, usually back by early afternoon.
Included
Trip stop
Pickup area
Pickup is from your own accommodation inside these areas. Route is indicative, not the exact road taken.
The price covers
What's Included, And What Isn't
Included
- Hotel pickup and drop-off across South Bali, Ubud and Canggu
- Private air-conditioned car with English-speaking driver
- Fuel, parking, tolls and the driver's day
- Guided visit to Ubud produce market
- Your own cooking station and tools
- All ingredients for around eight dishes
- The full meal you cook, plus a drink
- A printed recipe booklet to take home
Not included
- Alcohol, if you want it with the meal
- Personal spending, tips and anything you buy on the day
Before you book
Who This Trip Isn’t For
We would rather talk you out of the wrong trip than take your money for it. If any of these apply, message us and we’ll suggest something that fits better.
Anyone in a hurry
The market start is 6am and the class runs to early afternoon. It is a full day out.
Severe allergies we do not know about
Shopping happens before you arrive. Tell us when you book, not on the morning.
Anyone wanting a restaurant meal
You cook this yourself. It is very good, and it is not a restaurant.
Come prepared
What To Bring
Closed shoes for the market
The floors at Pasar are wet, uneven and busy from five in the morning. Not the place for open toes.
Clothes you can cook in
You will be over a wok and a spice grinder for two hours. Aprons are provided, sleeves are your problem.
A container or a bag
You cook far more than you can eat and the kitchen will happily box the rest for you.
Cash for the market
If you want to buy spices or a mortar to take home, the market is cash only and very cheap.
On the trip
What It Looks Like
Tap a photo to enlarge
Before you book
Questions About This Trip
Anything not covered here? Message us. We'd rather answer first than have you book the wrong trip.
Can we skip the market and start later?
Yes. The class itself starts mid-morning. The market is the best part, but a 6am pickup is not for everyone and the price is the same either way.
Are vegetarian and vegan options real?
Yes, and they are cooked properly rather than by leaving things out. Tell us when you book so the shopping is right.
Is it suitable for children?
Very. There is a lot of pounding, wrapping and grating, which children generally prefer to adults do. Knives and fire are supervised.
What do we actually cook?
Around eight dishes, always including base gede, the foundation spice paste. The rest changes with the market and the season, which is the point.
Do we get the recipes?
Yes, a booklet to take home, written for ingredients you can find outside Indonesia with notes on what to substitute.
Pairs well with
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View ItineraryReady When You Are
Tell us your dates and how many of you there are. We'll confirm availability, pickup time and the total, usually within the hour.