Global Gourmet/Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia’s and Eritrea’s cuisines are practically the same since they share the same history. Ethiopia’s cuisine includes various vegetables and meat side dishes. A traditional meal would consist of injera, a pancake-like bread, and Wat (stew). Wat can be cook with chicken, beef, fish, or even be vegetarian. Traditional Ethiopian cuisine consists of no pork, as most Ethiopian’s religions are against eating it. Ethiopian Orthodox Church requires a period of time (Wednesdays, Fridays, and the entire Lenten season) that abstain from pork. So most Ethiopian restaurants contain mostly vegetables side dishes, which are popular for vegetarians in western countries. However, they suffer the rest of the weeks when chicken, beef, lamb, and goat are main dishes.

Ingredients

An important element that is common in many dishes is berbere, multiple spices and herbs. Another significant ingredient is butter with flavors of onions, garlic, ginger, and spices.

Kitfo

A unique and national dish is called Kitfo or often list under Ketfo. This is made of raw ground beef marinated in a spicy chili powder, mitmita. Most tourist literature recommends not eating for health reasons. Gored gored is alike Kitfo, but contains cubed ground beef instead of ground beef and are left unmarinated.

Breakfast

An average breakfast food, Firfir, is produced from pieces of injera, along with spices for flavor. Other typical breakfast meal would be Dulet, Fatira, and Chechebsa. Dulet includes a spicy combination of tripe, liver, beef, and peppers with injera. Fatira is a large, flour pancake that is eaten with honey. Chechebsa is spicy and honey and can be eaten with a spoon.

Gurage region

Gurage cuisine made use of false banana plants, enset, which is native to regions of tropical regions such like Africa. The grounded-up plant is used to make qocho, a bread-like dish, which accompanies Kitfo during a meal. The plant root may be made into powder to form bula, a hot drink, which is a cure for the fatigue and sick.

Honey wine

A popular honey wine called Tej that has a sweet honey-based taste is mostly homemade but is also drunk in pubs. It is one of the special elixirs only available in Ethiopia. Soft drinks are consisting of western standards and freshly squeeze juices.