Articles
Articles on Indonesian Cooking and Coffee
Easy reading for home cooks and coffee shop owners: preserving ancestral recipes, base spice pastes, traditional techniques, plus menus, costing and coffee calibration.
Ancestral Heritage
Heritage page →Preserving our ancestors' regional recipes: the stories, base spice pastes, cooking techniques and traditions behind Indonesian food.
Ancestral Heritage
Why Ancestral Recipes Need to Be Preserved
Many regional recipes live only in the memory of our elders. Here is why ancestral recipes need to be written down, and simple ways to help preserve them.
Ancestral Heritage
How to Record Grandma's Recipes Before They Are Lost
A practical guide to recording recipes from grandparents: turning 'to taste' into real measurements, filming the steps and keeping the story behind each dish.
Ancestral Heritage
Indonesian Spice Pastes: Base Genep, Yellow, Red and White
Get to know Indonesia's base spice pastes: Balinese base genep, yellow, red and white pastes, and how to make a week's supply ahead.
Ancestral Heritage
Traditional Indonesian Cooking Techniques We Are Losing
Stone-pit cooking, se'i smoking, leaf-wrapped cooking and tempoyak fermentation: ancestral Indonesian techniques and how to try them in a home kitchen.
Ancestral Heritage
The Spice Route: Cloves, Nutmeg and the Indonesian Kitchen
Cloves and nutmeg from Maluku once brought the world to Indonesia. The story of the spice route and the traces it left in the regional dishes we cook today.
Ancestral Heritage
Food in Indonesia's Traditions and Ceremonies
Lawar in Bali, rendang in Minangkabau, stone-pit feasts in Papua and tumpeng in Java: the dishes at the heart of Indonesia's traditions and ceremonies.
Coffee & Shop
Coffee menu →Articles for coffee shop owners and baristas: menus, beans, storage, costing and espresso calibration.
Coffee & Shop
10 Must-Have Drinks for a New Coffee Shop
The 10 safest drinks for a new coffee shop menu, from iced palm sugar coffee to V60, with the reasons behind each and tips for building your menu board.
Coffee & Shop
Arabica vs Robusta: The Difference and When to Use Each
How Arabica and Robusta differ in flavour, caffeine, altitude and price, and when to use each one on a coffee shop menu.
Coffee & Shop
How to Store Coffee Beans So They Stay Fresh
How to store roasted coffee at home or in a shop: resting time after roasting, the right container, when to grind, and whether the fridge is a good idea.
Coffee & Shop
How to Work Out the Cost of One Iced Coffee Milk
Step by step costing for one iced coffee milk: coffee, milk, sugar, ice and cup, then how to set a selling price that still makes a profit.
Coffee & Shop
Daily Espresso Calibration for Coffee Shops
How to dial in espresso every morning: dose, yield and time, and how to read sour or bitter shots to adjust the grind.
Coffee & Shop
Kopi Tubruk and Sanger: Indonesia's Coffee Traditions
The story of kopi tubruk from Java and sanger from Aceh, two Indonesian ways of drinking coffee that still thrive and deserve a place on a modern menu.