The 53 Best Things We Ate This Year: Food + Cooking : gourmet.com

Food + Cooking

Published in Gourmet Live 12.19.12

Gourmet Live and Epicurious staff and contributors name their most savory, succulent, sweet, and all-around stellar meals of 2012

52 of 53

Rijsttafel, Amanusa Bali, Indonesia Because I'm basically a greedy eater, I always like rijsttafel because it typically offers a snaking buffet of every Indonesian signature dish. But at Amanusa, an Aman resort in Bali, chef Hamish Lindsay pares the feast down to one heaped plate that manages to tap every taste bud. The plate can vary but it typically features skewered chicken breast dressed with the lightest, silkiest peanut sauce (not that dense slick of peanut butter that too often defines a satay); prawns roused by lemongrass, coconut milk, green tomato, and fried shallots; a fried bean cake brightened by sweet soy sauce, garlic, and a very tangy lemongrass; and a mix of wok-fried bok choy, water spinach, Thai eggplant, long beans, shallots, and shrimp paste. It didn't hurt that the one-plate smorgasbord was served on an open terrace overlooking the Indian Ocean. —Raphael Kadushin, freelance food and travel writer PHOTO: Raphael Kadushin

52 of 53