one thing i love: ethiopian food
May 9, 2007 by Cash
Some cuisines have a way of creeping up on me. One minute, I’ve never even tried it; the next, I’m craving it constantly. Sushi was like this. I remember one fateful day around seven years ago when some coworkers essentially ‘dared’ me to join them for sushi at lunch. At the time, I got through it by thinking to myself “this is so so FRESH”, while not really appreciating the taste. Within a week though, I was drooling for more, and thus was born a life long obsession. (If you’re ever in Denver, I suggest Hapa, Sushi Han, and Sushi Den for getting your raw fish on).
The other night at the First Friday art walk, after an enjoyable encounter with a gaggle of cute young culture hounds and Greg’s statue-esq Eastern European wine server, we headed to Arada for Ethiopian food. I had an epiphany: I really love Ethiopian food.
Like most Americans I’m sure, I used to think “Ethiopia? Arn’t they starving? What could their ‘cuisine’ possibly be?!”. Then one Saturday afternoon on a mission to get premium incense at Isis I had my first taste.
Maybe it was the Tej (a honey wine similar to Mead) that started things off, or the delicious blend of spices (chile peppers, ginger, cloves, coriander, and allspice) in the Wat (a thick, stew like substance that is the staple of Ethiopian cuisine), or perhaps it was the strange, juvenile fun of eating wtihout utensils (you can’t even ask for them; the meal is eaten by wrapping the Wat in Injera, a sourdough, fermented flatbread).
Whatever the reason, I was charmed, and now find myself thinking about it often.
If you’ve shyed away from Ethiopian food, or not even realized it exists, I highly recommend you try it.
Find out more at wiki’s excellent overview of Ethiopian Cuisine
Delicious indeed.
Ethiopian food was one of the first foreign cuisines I attempted to cook at home. After a few failed attempts from this cookbook, I moved on to northern indian food, a cuisine with a wider array of published instructions.
Now I’m thinking I should try again…
nothing better than eating with the ace bandage like bread. and such great tastes. randomly tried over a year or two ago on a whim and can’t get enough of the stuff.
I heard Ethiopian food was on the spicy side. Is this true? You know how sensitive to spicy food I am
Very spicy.
From the linked article:
Ethiopian cusine is also known for its spiciness. J. Innes Miller cites a publication of the Ethiopian Ministry of Education that listed a number of spices grown in Ethiopia in 1954, which include fenugreek, cumin, basil, coriander, ginger, saffron, mustard, cardamom, “Red pepper” (Capsicum annuum) and thyme. Innes Miller notes that “all of these, except red pepper, belonged to the Roman world.
Oops maybe I should’ve read the article….