Ubud: Private Balinese Cooking Class at Local Home with Pickup

5.00

(642 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I woke up still thinking about the smell of toasted coconut from Putu’s kitchen — it kind of lingers on your hands, you know? We’d barely stepped out of the car (pickup was right on time) when her little nephew waved us in. The house is tucked behind some banana trees in Ubud, nothing fancy, but there were marigolds everywhere and chickens darting around. I liked that nobody put on a show for us — just Putu’s family doing their thing, chatting softly in Balinese as we took off our shoes.

Putu handed me a mortar and pestle that felt almost too heavy to lift. She grinned and said something about “good arm workout” before showing me how to grind ginger and chili for the sambal. There was this moment when she leaned over to check my paste and I realized I’d never actually smelled real galangal before — sort of citrusy, but earthier? My partner tried to say “terima kasih” (thank you) but Putu’s mom burst out laughing at his accent. Food breaks down all the awkwardness pretty fast.

We made gado gado first — vegetables tossed in peanut sauce so thick it stuck to the spoon. Then perkedel (corn fritters), which sizzled like rain on the old cooktop. The kitchen only has two burners but somehow everything came together at once: rendang bubbling away, coconut being grated by hand, rice steaming in a battered pot from their own fields. Lunch was just us and their family at a wooden table under open windows. I still think about that black rice pudding with palm sugar — sweet but not cloying, almost smoky from the way it’s cooked here.

It wasn’t just a cooking class in Ubud; it felt like being let in on something quietly special. Afterward Putu showed us her little shrine by the garden and explained why they offer flowers every morning. Hard to describe — there’s warmth here that sticks with you long after you leave.