WITH thousands of Bali families in financial distress due to the pandemic, New Zealand-born expatriate chef Dean Keddell is the driving force behind a project to help them get through the crisis.
The holiday destination depends on tourism, normally welcoming more than a million Australian a year. But a year has now passed without international tourists and there is no end in sight. Without tourists, many businesses are closed and there is no local work for most of the population.
"Bali is in a crisis situation," Keddell said.
The restaurateur, executive chef and owner of two Balinese restaurants, Ginger Moon Canteen and Jackson's Lily, said he found himself sitting among the chaos wondering what he could do.
"So I thought I would make my staff active by providing a project that we could all get involved in. We began collecting favourite family recipes that have been handed down through the generations and then we expanded to ask local warung cooks for theirs."
The result is a beautiful, 400-page hardcover cookbook, Our Bali ,Your Bali (Bali Kita Bali Kamu), which incorporates lots of colourful images, family and community stories, more than 100 local recipes, as well as a collection from Keddell's restaurant kitchens.
Among other things, learn how to make your own bumbu (the base of many Indonesian recipes), a variety of sambals (side dishes), your own dumpling wrappers with beautiful fillings and traditional satays.
The Bali Needs Our Help project is asking people to order the books via the Chuffed crowd funder for a minimum donation of $50. Nearly $290,000 has been raised to date.
Keddell, who started his career in Australia, would like everyone who has ever visited Bali to support the cause by buying a book, The project aims to sell 5000 copies and raise $375,000, with all profits going directly to local charities that have been hit hard.
"The charities we have chosen are the backbone of Balinese society - they support the poor and vulnerable at the best of times. Now with this pandemic, many more families have joined the ranks of the needy, while the charities have found themselves unable to raise their normal funds," he said.