About Food

One fascinating thing about Ethiopia is the food. (all pictures can be clicked to enlarge them) The rule of thumb certainly still holds, nothing is quite like you expect. The staple food for millions of people here is called Injera. That means "household bread". It is used as a plate, utensil and food all at once. It is a floppy bread with an unfamiliar vinegary taste that comes from the flour that it is made of. They call it Tef, it is a local grass that when dried and ground makes a flour that is quite high in iron, but low in gluten. They make a batter, let it set and ferment for a few days from the naturally ocurring wild yeasts that are present in the grass. This batter is then fried in large (2 ft diameter) round griddles called a Mirte Stove and peeled off when it is done. Everything from salad, wat or tsebhi (stew), shiro (dried peas, powdered and made into a spicy paste), tibs (small bits of fried meat), paprika-pepper spices and other delicacies that taste quite good when combined together. It is certainly a spicy dish, as most food here is. The other thing to notice is that the vast majority of foods are vegetable based. Other than nearly all the local food being "organic" it is also considered "fasting food". The majority religion here is an Orthodox Christianity that is claimed to be the second oldest religion in the world. A part of the belief is to fast for 165 days per year (270 days if you are a priest). When they fast it means that they cannot eat animal-based protein. Because injera is all vegetable, it is all over the place and eaten all the time. We went to a local restaurant for an injera lunch and when the household staff goes out with us, they nearly always order it for themselves. We went to a local "mall" called the Friendship Center, and the restaurant there was on a balcony with a great view of part of the city. When we saw that "Kentucky Fried Chicken" was on the menu, Nanci just had to try it. As you can see, it was not quite like we expected. It tasted fine, but when the palate expects one thing and gets another, the brain gets a bit confused. Wuhib (our driver) claims that this restaurant makes the best injera he has ever had. It is scrambled injera the best I can tell. He knocks it back with glee and the smile on his face lingers for about an hour I think. Ribka (Rebecca our maid/cook) loves a dish called kitfu. It is a spicy ground steak tartar (that means raw) with onions, garlic and a little sauce sometimes. Oddly enough, this is considered to be dessert food, rather than an entre or appetizer. I tried a little bit and will have to develop my tastes a bit more before it becomes a favorite dessert for me. Also in this meal was a mixture of goat cheese and casava leaf (like African greens), injera (of course) and a rubbery food called "kocho" that is made from the stem of the mus (banana) plant, chopped, pressed and fried, often with red pepper.

Speaking of vegetables and fruits, they are all over the place in corregated metal huts or on roadside towels. Talk about fresh and plenty of it and cheap! The same with the bread. Baked fresh yeast bread costs 2 Birr per loaf. About 22 cents US. Bananas are about 20 cents a pound. Normal food can be found here in the up-scale grocery stores. It is a bit more expensive since it caters to the European NGO employees who have lots of money and are afraid to go to one of the metal huts or eat local food. I can't get over how fresh food is around here. One of the most popular meats here is lamb. Even it is fresh and available locally. A small lamb costs 100 Birr (US$11) and a medium one is 150 Birr (US$16). For an additional 10 Birr you can have the farmer carry it to your house for you. Yes, that's right, the shepard is local, right in the street in the country's largest city of 4 million people. Marcus and Ralph's driver walked over before dawn last weekend and brought back a lamb to the house. Then one of them with a large knife grabbed Marcus and said "you come, take photo". When he got to the porch he was just in time to see them procede to prepare the lamb for lunch. What a sight to wake up to on a Sunday morning. They then grilled it up on a charcoal grill made from half of a freon tank and claimed lunch and dinner were fabulous. There are cattle roaming around as well, but I have not priced one of those. In all, the food is great. I have yet to encounter an anchovy or any food that I would not eat again.