Ariyani

Tedjo

An Indonesian style afternoon tea for two. The snacks served are traditional Indonesian snacks, both sweet and savory. The snacks are served on a stacked wooden trays and garnished with orange jasmine leaves. Snacks offered here are Kue Dadar Gulung (pandan crepe roll), Kue Talam Hijau (steamed pandan and brown sugar pudding), Sosis Solo (fried egg roll), Kue Mangkok (steamed rice flour cupcake), and Risoles (fried breaded crepe roll).

The set is decorated with Batik shawl from Java, woven bamboo container from Lombok, decorative bamboo leaves and screen in Batik pattern.

A mocktail of lychee and lemon juices with drops of butterfly pea tea. The drinks is garnished with gum paste flower and gold leaves. The background is beautiful moon orchids, the Mother's Day gift from my daughter.

A glass of iced butterfly pea tea. The iced tea was to have some lemon slices added. Before adding the citrus, I dropped the slices to make a splash. One slice is off the glass, but it makes the picture looks nice.

Agar-agar Mosaic. Three flavours of agar-agar: coconut sugar, butterfly pea tea, butterfly pea tea latte with coconut milk. The agar-agar were thinly sliced then arranged in mosaic pattern. It is then garnished with gum paste flowers, mint leaves and coconut milk foam.

A Peranakan dish of fish ball soup from southern Sumatra regions called Tekwan.
The fish balls are accompanied with glass noodles, jicama, tree ear fungus and clear fish broth enriched with minced shrimp.

Zongzi or also known as Bacang, is one popular Chinese rice cake dumpling. Heaps of glutinous rice filled with meat, sausage, salted egg yolk, mushrooms, water chestnut then wrapped with bamboo leaves into tetrahedron shape.

I like to imagine the zongzi among traditional Chinese or Oriental props. So I styled the zongzi traditionally with vintage china and bamboo containers. The vintage china and stacked bamboo basket were passed down from both my grandmothers.

Fresh brown oyster mushrooms are uncommon to find. So when I saw these in the supermarket, it did not make me think twice before grabbing them. I truly admire their beauty; their juice, meaty flesh full of umami is a true delicacy.

I photographed the mushrooms first before cooking them. I put them in a deep bowl usually used to serve ramen, sprayed them with some water then garnished with some curry leaves. I also used artificial golden branches set close to the lens to create a blurry, curvaceous frame for the mushrooms.

Eihire, a Japanese delicacy of grilled stingray fin. The cut strips of the fin are served with Japanese mayonnaise and dried ground chili.

Egg noodles with minced chicken, mushrooms, barbecue pork, fried fish ball, beansprouts and choy sum in rich chicken broth. A noodle dish is a must have for a birthday celebration, as according to Chinese belief noodles symbolise longevity. This one is a homemade one, made to celebrate my husband's birthday a few days ago.

An auspicious food to have for Chinese New Year: Layer Cake. The cake batter is baked layer by layer, a labor-intensive delicacy. The one here is a variation with the almond added.

A cocktail of Austrian schnaps and Korean peach milk soda, garnished with cranberry and fragrant rosemary. A new creation just wonderful for this holiday season.

While visiting Europe a few months ago, a dear cousin of mine gave me a bottle of Schnaps that she and her husband brought from Austria during their travel. It's one of @feinbrennerei.prinz. Truly an exquisite drink perfect for this holiday season; either on its own or mixed for a cocktail.

Gingerbread cookies in house shape of various designs, which later would be decorations for a Christmas theme cake. The houses' windows are made of melted candy and lights will be inserted behind the houses to make them glow.

This is Umeshu, the traditional Japanese plum liquor. Served with the plum fruit that has been soaked in the liquor. This pouring action is captured from low angle to enhance the liquid coming out of the decanter.

Fresh Cherry Tomatoes sprinkled with fresh water. Some droplets are captured while still in the air above the tomatoes. After the photoshoot, the tomatoes were taken to the kitchen for making Marinara Sauce.

It’s time for an iced coffee, with milk of course! I always love action shot involving pouring and mixing; so one day it came to my mind for a shot of pouring coffee and milk together.

Here the coffee and milk are poured onto a tipped glass filled with ice cubes. The inconsistent speed of the liquids coming out of the pot and jug making a beautiful capture of the milk, coffee; also when they are already mixed together in the glass.

Love these dainty pears; its red blush is a beauty! So before eating, I took them for a photo shoot. The image is then edited to a style resembling a vintage painting.

Rose Lemon Tea. I tried a new drink recipe of rose tea with lemon. For a super hot day, I added some ice cubes and made it an iced tea. I like the result; the flavours of green tea, tangy lemon, sweet rosey and citrusy scents are truly pleasing. Here the iced tea is showered with dried rose petals.

One of my favourite companions for tea. Canelé de Bordeaux, made into mini size. Made by a pâtisserie famous for its authentic French bread and pastry here in Jakarta. When I made the shot just before tea time, the sun was shining a truly beautiful golden light. I like how the canelés gleam in this beautiful natural light.