salt farming

Aside from the zone where the fishing boats anchor, the water around the island is uncontaminated and provides a pure source for mineral rich sea salt.  During the long dry season the sun and wind evaporates the "farmed water" and leaves behind a fine layer of salt.  This process is repeated until a thick crust forms, which is then harvested with a spoon and sold or stored for personal use. Much easier than growing wheat.

The more traditional and romatic technique employs giant clam shells arranged like a keyhole garden for easy access. The modern fandangled method is to use any plastic containter cut in half, or a piece of tarp nailed to a makeshift frame.

The salt sells for around 10c per cup at the markets and is far superior to the processed iodine fortified poison the government promotes as healthy, or the handfuls of MSG liberally added to make lifeless noodles edible.  While hand harvested Celtic sea salt is a gourmet product in Australian health food stores, we are lucky to have a local source that is natural, unwashed, unrefined, and free of pesticides, herbicides, or additives. Long may the artisan salt farming continue.

late lunch

Afternoon tea and lunch are often rolled into one, as our meal times revolve around hunger and surf rather than clock time.  Our caloric intake so far today has come out of the blender, starting with a thick green smoothie that included ten frozen mangoes, half a papaya and four bananas.  Today I'm alone at the table as Aquaman is off playing in the rollers. To score offshore and head high this late in the season is a real unexpected gift. 

I suppose you are expecting a photo of the wave, and what do you get but a picture of my one bowl wonder lunch.  Dont' pretend you aren't excited by the alfalfa sprouts.  I wanted to show off the beautiful ceramic bowl from Dayana in Bali, and my new coasters made from vintage kimonos that were a gift from Little Bamboo.

curry crackers

A savoury recipe to use the leftover almond meal from our chocolate smoothies. Topped with cos lettuce from a neighbour's garden, cucumber, tomato and fresh alfalfa sprout, it makes for tasty post-surf fast food.

Ingredients
3 cups almond meal (left over from making almond milk)
1 cup oat flour (we only have rolled oats, which are not raw, if possible use steel cut oat groats)
1/2 cup ground flax seeds
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoons garam masala (curry powder)
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons cumin & coriander seeds, coarsley ground
3 tomatoes, blended
2 cloves garlic, finely crushed

Method
1. Combine all ingredients. Add a little water if mixture isn't sticky enough.
2 Spread mixture on non-stick sheet. Dehydrate at 40ºC until firm (about 12 hrs). Flip over and cut into crackers half way into the dehydrating time.

baba ganoush

Market day again, and our plan is to split up and pounce early. I am after lemons and Tom is on the search for avocados and green bananas. We have success with lemons, oranges and bananas, but no avos. We ordered twenty to be sent over from the mainland; if, and in what condition they arrive is yet to be seen (note; they never arrived). Tom has bought a parang (machete) to begin coconut-opening lessons, and I lash out on four sarongs to cut up and sew into a mattress cover for our patio daybed. The mattress manufacturer’s taste in fabric is consistent with Indo kitch, and the bright nylon blue and yellow flower print has got to go.

Today is the third day without a phone signal and internet connection. Just when you get comfortable with something, an unknown force rips it away. Sweet demonstration of attachment causing suffering.

Finally, we manage to find someone keen enough to spend half a day scraping paint of our kitchen floor. We foolishly trusted the claim on the Indonesian cement paint that it would be “hard and long wearing.” Within a week, it was peeling off and looking like a crazy Picasso. The options were to hit it with a grinder, filling every orifice of house and self with cement dust, or find a patient local willing to scrape it off with a parang.

Tonight's raw gourmet delight is tempe open "sandwiches" with baba ganoush, salad and alfafa sprouts. For dessert I make a chocolate macaroon mixture from the almond milk meal and mush it up with bananas.

Raw Baba Ganoush

Ingredients
4 eggplant
apple cider vinegar
3/4 C tahini
4 cloves garlic
1/4 C lemon juice
1 T garam masala/curry powder

Method
1. Peel & chop eggplant into cubes
2. Cover with water and soak for 1 hour (asian eggplant do not require salting)
3. Drain off water, cover eggplant with apple cider vinegar and soak for 1 hour
4. Combine in food processor with tahini, garlic, lemon juice and garam masala