In Reply to: Also Allergic to nuts posted by gypsy on Tuesday, 9. February 2010 at 05:44 Bali Time:
although people on here have had this one before (you should search the archives for JBR's that mention restaurants where people have had no problems) Balinese cooking involves a lot of nuts, oil derived from nuts or there is just a lot of nut use so it's in the kitchens. I'd try sticking to the high end places as I've been in many a Warung Kitchen and believe me they will not be removing nut traces.
Peanuts are Kacang tanah, however we have Kacang asin (salted peanuts) and Kacang Putih (not roasted). In conversation Balinese always shorten everything so they say just Kacang (but it is actually the word for beans as well).
Anak alergi Kacang Tanah
Pronounced
A-nak a-ler-gi Ke-chung Ta-nah
People on this forum have mentioned having a card that says my child will get very sick if eats this product etc but you don't need that and in this culture that is insulting. Balinese know what allergic is and that it will make a person sick. The many Chefs we know find it insulting to be told how to suck eggs. You are better off asking if you can speak directly to the Chef and that way you know the message goes directly to the source (a busy waiter/waitress may simply forget in any country or their handwriting may be bad so the Chef does to read a note on the order).
The Balinese you deal with in the south are educated and understand full well what an allergy is. When a Balinese gets a cold you never here the end of it, it's always the flu so they stake illness very seriously but they don't take being blamed for one very well and if you start in a negative by saying "it will make my child very sick" you have started off disrespecting the Chef.