Alva K Lim

#repost @agorafoodstudio Papaya (ai dila) is one of the great staples in Timorese cuisine. The young green fruit is bitter (moruk), and is eaten like a vegetable. #Bitter flavours are a desirable and nutritionally important element in #Timorese cooking. This week we're celebrating the papaya in all its tasty #bitterness and pairing it with sweet roots like cassava and purple sweet potato. Young #greenpapaya steamed with turmeric and herbs (#aidila #bafa), on the bottom right of this photo, has a great texture. Some like it cooked slightly al-dente with a hint of bitterness, others like it cooked soft like a roasted chayote. Any bitterness is neutralised when eaten with the cassava mash and roasted honey carrots. #timoresefood #aihanlokal #dili #timorleste #tropicalfoodlab #slowfood #seasonalfood (at Agora Food Studio)

#repost @agorafoodstudio Young green papaya seeds are white and have flavour and heat compounds reminiscent of mustard and wasabi, but with bitterness. Using these characteristics, we're re-imagining a tropical version of the Italian 'mostarda' using just papaya seeds to pickle local fruits of the season like the unripened long green 'hudi tunu' or 'roast bananas' #agorafoodstudio #tropicalfoodlab #timorleste #dili #slowfood #aihanlokal

Would Marco Canora call this 'snow on grass'? @agorafoodstudio PSP Gnocchi in the making #nosmooshing #snowongrass #luckypeach #timorleste #seasonalfood #aihantimor #slowfood #cassavaflour #dili #agorafoodstudio (at Agora Food Studio)

#repost @agorafoodstudio New in season this week: limes, green papaya, papaya leaves, chillis, Still loads of: tomatoes, taros, 'stone' eggplant Not so fresh or abundant: banana blossoms, snake beans, breadnut #seasonalfood #timorleste #taibessi #tropicalfoodlab #agorafoodstudio (at Agora Food Studio)

He says "doll.. I don't want to suffocate tonight because of the hudi dubuns. They stink. Should've left them outside. You know my nose is more sensitive than yours" ...poor hubby it must be tough having a greek-nose 😂😂 Stinky banana blossoms (hudi fatuk variety from Viqueque) are on the menu this week! #agorafoodstudio #timorleste

I love this shot, so much is happening in it. It was the moment just before my turn to chew the 'malus'. Tozy is reaching out to prepare one for me, his mouth already red and betel nut chewed into a nice fat sausage, I failed to follow, spraying and spitting out little pieces and dribbling as elegantly as I could. Below him is a plastic jug of fresh young avocado leaf tea..sweetened to candy level proportions (pre-plastic days, #Laclubar people used handmade bamboo vessels). And above, cute puppy meets James's hopelessly useful red thonged-feet that look so clean now but a little river walk later.. #timorleste #betelnut

"Always have fun, always keep learning..and fix the Wikipedia entry on Timorese cuisine" - James Oseland. Pinch me, yes this just happened. Award winning food author/ former Saveur Editor-in-Chief AND Chef Cesar Lourdes swapping life stories and giving the team advice. #teacheablemoments #wizardofOzeland #agorafoodstudio #timorleste #dili #timoresecuisine

One of these salts is the sweetest of them all. Day 1 #palatetraining is all about seasoning and weaning tastebuds off any masako/ajinomoto/MSG addiction. Starting with salt, a little balance.. And some fresh fish by @gobiest Salt ~ 'Solarium argentum' = a Roman's soldier's salary (hence the phrase "not worth his salt"). #TimorLeste, like many others, has its ancient salt routes between the sea and mountains. Salt was (and for some parts, still is) traded for mountain produce like palm wine and coffee). #agorafoodstudio #timorleste

Pickin' pomegranates, or perhaps more accurately, avoiding the thorns. No insta-Franken-filters added to this remarkable equatorial light. This one's for you @david.szanto #Dili

#Amaranth leaf and peas. Trying out some new frames with this one; 60degs in threes instead of 16:9s

Native foods of #timorleste #february From #ChefCesarLourdes seasonal kitchen. #Dili

Javanese puto is not the same as the modern Filipino Kraft-cheese puto of my childhood. This street version stuffs rice flour, coconut palm sugar and coconut shavings inside little bamboo molds of equal size, which are then steamed (max 4 at a time) on top of the coolest DIY modular steamer-box ever. The streetseller carries it on his back while he walks, and he makes sure you can hear him even before you see him because his steamer box whistles loudly as if he's got a kettle on permanent boil! The #puto is not that sweet, more salty-sweet like a salted caramel. I much preferred this version and the price...6000rupiah - comes out at a grand total of 45c for 5 pieces. #surabaya #soerabaja #indonesia #indonesianfood #streetfood

So this is the power of social media.. You flick through a bunch of posts, one catches your eye, it's drop of dew on butter..A fatdew..So you like it, you like another, then you start to follow them because you feel there's something special going on here, and 80 weeks or so later of watching them post, you firmly believe just how crazy rockin' butter balls these guys are that when they start a crowdfund, you bounce out a "Hell yeah! Here's my pledge!" Proud to have contributed something small. Only a few hours left, do it & don't look back. This butter will change you @buttervikings #churningforbetterbutter

Beauty in shape and form....wooden molds for Japanese sweets, called kashigata 菓子型 (confectionary) kigata 木型 (wooden mold) #wagashi #和菓子 #kappabashi かっぱ橋道具街 #kitchenstreet #tokyo #japan #japanesefood

The battle. Take off, put on. Take off, put on. No outdoor shoes indoors, no indoor shoes in bathrooms. No bathroom shoes indoors or outdoors. #japan

Fell in love with real Sake thanks to this dude. Thanks Masaru Terada san for an extraordinary and aromatic afternoon at #teradahonke - a 342yr old brewery #純米酒 #生酛 #wildferment #sake #traditionandinnovation