Indonesian traditions in a fabulous setting.
Most of us love a journey, and for me, good taste always travels well. That’s why it was a delight to accept an invitation from Javier Rebello, Executive Chef at La Reserva, to serve over 70 guests at this exciting restaurant, part of an incredible water sports, tennis, polo and golf resort experience set in rolling hills overlooking Andalusia’s coastline.
This particular ‘journey’ started when Javier and I met at one of the leading resorts in Indonesia and shared an interest in Indonesian food culture and traditions. I had already enjoyed previous visits to this region including the medieval city of Seville, provincial capital Cadiz and the Moorish palace of Alhambra in Granada. Andalusia is famous for its olives, wine and sherry but the seafood this time of the year is especially good. So it did not need a second thought to accept Javier’s invitation to cook together.
“The Beach” adds a new dimension to the already famous La Reserva Club de Sotogrande with its freshwater pools, silky sandy beaches, loads of fun water sports to try and plenty of
tennis courts. And all just a short walk from the golf club itself.
Javier and his colleagues were keen on me producing a traditional Indonesian dinner experience for their guests, to capture a variety of flavours from around the archipelago. Our menu included famous national dishes, such as rendang and turmeric rice tumpeng along with urap - a Javanese favourite, satay lillit from Bali, egg ballado from Padang, kuah asam soup from Manado created with local fresh shrimp, mussels and scallops, ikan gohu as it is served in Ternate and let’s not forget palu butung from Makassar one of a trilogy of coconut textured desserts and part of fifteen
different tasting elements expertly served by the restaurant team and paired with local wines.