Ethiopian Cultural Foods

Foods of Ethiopia

An Ethiopian meal is packed with spicy flavor. The culture's thick stews are traditionally scooped up with injera bread rather than utensils. Ethiopia is often described as "the land of milk and honey," and the food there is literally grown from the land, from the grains to the honey to the cattle and sheep. Several of the spices used in Ethiopia have been brought in from India, the Orient and Portugal. Ethopia's population consists of both Christians and Muslims, and vegetarian fare is common.

Main Courses

Main courses include meat and vegetable dishes that are flavorful and filling. Spices like cayenne pepper, paprika and chili pepper are used heavily, and the meat is cooked to a savory tenderness. Doro wat is a spicy chicken stew made with cayenne pepper and paprika and served with peeled, hard boiled eggs. Sega wat is Ethopian lamb, seasoned in the same way as doro wat, with the addition of onions. Kitfo is lean steak, seasoned with salt, cayenne pepper and chili pepper, served raw or cooked. Vegetable alecha is a stew made from onions, carrots, tomatoes, potatoes and cabbage in seasoning.

Side Dishes

Common Ethiopian side dishes include salads, fritters and cheeses. Lab is a combination of white curd cheese and yogurt with herbs, served on crackers or injera bread to accompany meats. Dabo kolo are snacks made from seasoned and fried balls of dough. Eggplant salad made Ethopian style includes garlic, beans and sugar. Lentil salad, or yemiser selatta, combines vinegar and oil with lentils, garlic and jalapenos. Chickpea fritters, or yeshimbra assa, are made with fried chick peas, onion and garlic in dough; they are seasoned with red pepper paste, or berbere.

Bread and Spices

Bread is an important part of Ethiopian cuisine, but there are several types used. Spices can be made beforehand and bottled. Injera is unleavened bread, poured in a thin consistency to make a sort of "tablecloth" on which to place trays of food for scooping. Kategna, verus injera, is a large flat bread, salted and softened and used for wraps. Honey yeast bread, or yemarina yewotet dabo, is made with egg, honey, flour and spices that are baked to a golden brown. Niter kebbeh, or kibe, consists of a spiced butter that you can spread on toast. Berbere is a spice paste that you toast, bottle and reuse for recipes. Tej is honey wine, served cold to wash down your meal.

References

• University of Pennsylvania: African Studies Cookbook:
• Global Gourmet: Ethopia