It's tough being a culinary reporter. Some say it's similar to a war -- one as bad as the Iraq war -- because one has to struggle between digesting the food and finding the right words to describe in detail a specific flavor's nuance. Most reporters love to just nosh the food but shun from writing about it.
In Jakarta, a multitude of the restaurants that invite the media usually offer journalists several full platters rather than a small variety of samplers.
Of the places I cover, about a third offer an alternative, healthy menu. I can recommend many of these to people for their tasty cuisines, but not to those who are on a strict or steady diet.
International foodies love Jakarta for its endless gastronomic scene, from the street hawkers to the five-star restaurants complete with their own wine cellars. Living here could mean becoming a prisoner of tasty food.
Some restaurants have added a vegetarian menu, but not a totally healthy one. If you overeat, chances are you will not feel any better about yourself.
What I miss is the take-away from vegetarian/vegan restaurants that could also appeal to meat eaters, such as the Native Foods chain in California. Besides having a good karma because they spare animals (the unofficial slogan of the place) you will not feel unsatisfied after chomping on its offerings because they taste excellent and are full of flavor.
I love the Native Foods' Bali Surf Burger, which is basically an organic burger with grilled tempeh in the middle. I used to order it with french fries smothered in sweet chili sauce. Although the addition is not exactly healthy, the feeling that I consumed only "clean" ingredients, such as vegetables, made me feel good for almost the entire day.
Executive Chef at the Borobudur Hotel, Eduard Betz, once said to me you would not gain weight if you watched your portion size. I always remember his advice, but it's difficult to leave a large portion of his "wasted" food, which would go straight to the garbage can after a luncheon or dinner invitation. Of course that's just my excuse.
"The smaller the portion of the daily food intake, the bigger the chance that we will live a longer life," Clive McCay said. Being overweight due to overeating leads to the risk of dying prematurely, the nutrition expert added.
I am not so fond of constantly eating healthy food, hence my high level of cholesterol. However, I have tried to make it a routine to drink a blend of several raw vegetables and fruit every morning just to make up for those missing bits at the bottom of the food pyramid.
There are endless varieties in the blend, but I usually stick to spinach, ginger, apple and celery. However, I also indulge in my favorite evening snack, which is chocolate. I realize this may offset the healthy drink I had earlier, but I try to stick to dark chocolate, which reduces high blood pressure.
For home cooking and spread for bread, I switched to non-cholesterol butter rather than margarine. I declined the unsalted non-cholesterol butter because I found that unsatisfying and thus may end up returning to packaged lard.
Many health expert note that excess consumption of salt is bad for the body.
Handrawan Nadesul, who has written several books on health and food, said our physical bodies are an autobiography of what we consume. He said healthiness is found in your own kitchen rather than in restaurants.
According to my body mass index, I am now about 14.4 kilograms overweight. This says a lot about what I eat, but also what I don't do enough of -- which is exercise. This is my next plan -- to exercise more regularly -- so I can eat more of the bad stuff.
-- Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo
