Some Culinary Surprises
No pork. Nowhere. Ever. Not even a pig. Perhaps due to a residual influence from the historical impact of the Jews in combination with today’s Muslim population, but there is no pork to be found in Ethiopian tourist restaurants. But plenty of goat!
And raw meat. Throughout Ethiopia, raw meat (beef) is served (thank goodness with other options!!). Apparently they love it and eat it regularly. I’m a pretty adventuresome eater. But raw meat in a country where I can’t drink the water is waaaay outside my comfort zone!
Raw meat
For me, besides the faces of people I meet, it is the taste and experience of a country’s food that lingers in my mind long after the photo book has been finished. Every country seems to have something unique, if only a new twist on something familiar.
Ethiopia’s #1 export is coffee. (I was even served Ethiopian coffee in a coffee shop in the old historic section of Dubai!) And they consume it everywhere. All the time. Coffee shops may be tiny huts on the side of the street or beautiful settings in remote hotels or a corner of a restaurant and even airport waiting areas.
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Sidewalk coffee shop
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Coffee shop
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Coffee shop
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Coffee shop
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Coffee shop
We were treated to a coffee ceremony in a humble home near Axum. First the beans are roasted in a dry pan and then passed around. You are encouraged to wave the smoke and aroma toward your nose to stimulate your senses and know the degree of roast. Then the beans are ground in a mortar and pestle and them boiled in water. When properly cooked, the coffee - without any filter - is carefully poured into tiny cups on a tray and shared. It is quite thick. And smooth given the lack of a Keurig or Nespresso. But there is usually a sludge at the bottom of the cup when you’re finished.
Coffee beans
Some may remember me seeing a flat pancake thing made out of sago palm in Papua New Guinea. Very similar here was a process in the Dorze tribal village where the inside of the bark of a “false (sterile) banana tree” is stripped or grated into small fibers. It is flattened and buried in the warm ground under banana leaves for up to three months, fermenting. When removed, it can be kneaded, with a bit of water, to further break down the fibers. Flattened, it is placed on a hot “griddle” between two banana leaves to steam a bit and then placed directly on the griddle. The result is truly much like the sago pancake. This resulting kotcho, a staple to their diet, is shared with a side of honey or hot chili sauce. (Ethiopians love their hot sauce.) Served communally on a large flat platter, everyone tears off a piece - ALWAYS with the right hand! Basically, I found it pretty bland and harmless.
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Ground fiber from inside banana bark
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The “dough” being brought out after 3 months of fermenting
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Making the pancake
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Cooking on the griddle
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Kotcho with hot sauce and honey
As we gathered on goat skin benches, we were invite to wash the bread down with “holy water,” a fermented combination of garlic, anise, maze, sorghum, wheat, honey and hops. Basically it tasted like grain alcohol with a hint of anise scent. More commonly at celebrations in the north, Ethiopians drink something called honey wine. But just as I NEVER saw anyone smoking (although the tribal people chew tobacco), drinking (beyond an occasional beer) is not really in their culture.
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Goatskin benches and banana leaf cushions
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“Holy water”
Acacia trees throughout the countryside have beehives in them. These unique contraptions, made with bamboo, were often several to a tree. Apparently, at the right time, they climb the tree to retrieve the honey.
Beehives in acacia trees
One staple throughout the country is injera, a flat fermented bread made from teff, a seed that grows on a grass. It has a slightly fermented taste. It is served rolled up, so you can tear off a piece at a time (not until the whole thing as shown!)
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Injera unrolled
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Injera rolled
But my favorites were two versions of injera served flat and open. One dish, shiro, has a spicy thick sauce made from chickpea flour ladled into the middle or, alternatively, served piping hot over charcoal. You tear off the injera and sop up a bit of the shiro. Yum! Often I would see Ethiopians sharing this dish....each person carefully tearing off injera that was in front of them, so as to not take more than their fair share. (Like: don’t reach for a slice of pizza on the opposite side of the tray!)
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Shiro served over charcoal
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Shiro ladled into injera
The other option was the “fasting platter.” Popular in a country with so many vegetarian-only days, this is injera decorated with spoonfuls of a variety of shiro, green lentils, spicy yellow lentils, beets, cabbage, spicy ground beef, or steamed carrots. Again, you tear off a pice of the injera and use it to pick up a bite of whatever.
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Fasting plate
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Woman mixing corn
In some tribal areas, corn is plentiful. This photo shows a tribal woman mixing up corn in a large rubber inner tube she’s using as a bowl.
Woman mixing corn
And then there were oddities which I never quite figured out: a hard boiled egg, breaded/battered and fried.
Battered fried hard-boiled egg
Ethiopia isn’t a culinary destination, but I’ve discovered a few new favorites as I head into the bush to visit several tribes throughout the Omo river valley, only about 50 miles from the Kenyan and Sudan borders.
