Fragrant Rice: My Continuing Love Affair with Bali [Paperback]

Janet De Neefe (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 15, 2006

When Janet De Neefe stepped off the plane in Bali in 1974, she felt an immediate connection to this island paradise. Though curious about Bali's culture, its warm people and its mouth-watering cuisine, she didn't expect to fall in love with a Balinese man and make a new life there.

Now, years later, Janet and her husband have four children and run two of the most successful restaurants in Bali. Janet shares entertaining stories of her immersion into another culture and way of life, along with insights into the ancient myths and rituals still alive in Bali today. She also passes on delicious recipes handed down through generations of her husband's family.

Fragrant Rice shows how the love, hope and warmth that makes this island such a special place is still very much alive today.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Janet De Neefe earned a degree in Arts and Crafts at Burwood State College in Melbourne, before traveling to Bali where she met her husband. The owners of several restaurants and stores in Bali, De Neefe also runs classes on Balinese cooking, which are attended by visitors from all over the world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Periplus Editions (HK) ltd.; Original edition (October 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0794650287
• ISBN-13: 978-0794650285
• Product Dimensions: 0.9 x 4.9 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #196,785 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Think book length cooking magazine article May 20, 2007

By M. J. Smith VINE™ VOICE

I enjoyed this book although I often wondered why. Were the occassional strange sentence constructs Australian English or poor editing? Is it wise to give recipes using candlenuts many pages before the warning regarding raw candlenuts? What audience is De Neefe writing for in this part biography, part social anthropology, part food chronicle, part "if she writes once more that this is her kids' favorite" ... but her recipes are good.

Then I changed my perspective to reading the book as I would read the travel & food articles in a magazine such as Gourmet. I relaxed and enjoyed the book for what it is - a very personal take on Bali and its foods by someone fascinated by the foods and the uses of food in the social structure. Not to mention that she is a good tutor for the basics of the Balinese taste, leaving one comfortable improvising before one has tried a single recipe. Bravo.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Bali insights December 3, 2008

By springy cat

I enjoyed reading this book while traveling in Bali because it shed light on Balinese customs, cooking, and community life from the perspective of an Australian learning how to assimilate into her husband's culture and to grow a successful business together in the Honeymoon Guesthouse (now expanding to a second guesthouse) and their several restaurants that are popular with visitors and locals alike. I also enjoyed reading the recipes. Fun travel reading and a good souvenir to help you try to replicate Balinese dishes at home.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Love at First Sight January 19, 2010

By Carol Mathis

I enjoyed Fragrant Rice: My Continuing Love Affair with Bali very much. There is a certain type of travel book that draws me in completely: a writer falls deeply in love with another culture, as if he or she is finding a long-lost home at last, and is able to share that love in a way that is both knowledgable and emotionally compelling. Although there are moments when the writing falters and, as intimated in another review, the writer assumes an interest in her children's preferences that the reader might not feel, I was able to have the experience I look for in a travel book, living a life I will never have but could dream of. The recipes are lovely. The insight into the culture is fascinating. The author's life, with one foot in Bali and the other in Austrailia, and the reality that she will never be part of the Balinese as her husband and children are, is compelling and just a bit heartbreaking.