Apart, that is, for one of the world's finest cuisines. Masakan Padang, or Padang-style food, is a culinary tour-de-force. Padang in West Sumatra is the home of rendang, in particular rendang daging sapi (beef rendang). If you are a carnivore, there is no finer dish.
The deal with the traditional masakan Padang spread is that they spread out all the dishes on the table in front of you, but you just eat the handful that you want, and you only pay for what you eat. They put the rest away. You get to eat a magnificent banquet for the price of a coffee and muffin in an Australian shopping centre. It's all fiery hot though. You have to be OK with chilli. And you traditionally eat with your fingers.
I was less impressed by the durian cuisine. Whole cafes were devoted to iced durian desserts, with all kinds of variations. It was, as ever, interesting. It tasted overwhelmingly of ........ durian (unfortunately). Durian to me tastes overwhelmingly of onion. Which would be OK, except in a dessert. My theory is there's some sort of fundamental genetic difference in the taste buds of Asians and Europeans. Just about every Asian you meet loves durian. Just about every European thinks it's rather off. I'm particularly reminded of the onion-and-brown-sugar cough mixture I used to take as a kid. OK as a medicine, but why would you pay for it as a dessert?
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