Ethiopian food

 

 Injera being cooked

So many people have asked me about the food here in Ethiopia, so I've decided to dedicate a blog post to it. Not tryna call anyone out in particular but, contrary to what some stereotypes may have you thinking.... NO! everyone in Ethiopia is NOT starving lol AND there is a pretty large variety of foods available here (with the exception of hard cheeses).

There is no way I can talk about Ethiopian cuisine without bringing up Injera. It is a national dish in Ethiopia and this sourdough flatbread with its very unique spongy texture seems to unite Ethiopians from every region. There are many different ethnic groups in Ethiopia, all with their own style of dance, dress, music & foods. But Injera seems to be a constant throughout the country. All Ethiopians love it and a meal isn't considered a meal unless injera is involved.

  Injera ready to be devoured

In all honesty I did not like Injera when I first tried it. I avoided eating it for the first 3 months I was in country. It was too sour for me and it just added this extra flavor to other Ethiopian dishes that were already delicious without it, in my opinion. But what the heck did I know then lol. I was wrong, and after giving it a few more tries I realized that I had had a few BAD injera experiences but it normally is pretty good and I even find myself craving it somedays. 

My appreciation of Injera is nowhere near the normal Ethiopian level however. These people eat it for breakfast, lunch & dinner. They love Injera so much that they eat a dish called FirFir, which is pieces of injera, inside injera lol

 

There are spices in firfir and you can get firfir with eggs & meat too, but its very common to see people eating the normal firfir of only injera & berbere (the spice)

Injera the way I like it... with a mixture of veggies, meat, ayb (goat cheese) & kitfo (raw meat)

 

Mahebrawi - the meat lovers dish

mahebrawi is a platter that has a variety of meats all served on top of injera. Sometimes ayb (cheese) is included. Most Ethiopian dishes are served on large platters and several people eat off this same platter.

  

Another Mahebrawi dish

 

Ayb with Gomen (cheese with cabbage)

I really like Ethiopian cheese, I prefer eating it with meat and injera though.

 

Tibs - Lamb meat (usually I think) with a small assortment of veggies (usually kayria & onion) with Injera and mitmita (a hot but yummy spice)

Shekela tibs - most PC Ethiopia volunteers favorite dish. These are tibs that are cooked on this clay pot. They are a little crunchier than normal tibs but they are delicious.

The work that goes into making a cup of coffee in Ethiopia. Wash the beans. Cook the beans. Ground the beans. Mix. Boil and serve them. #peacecorps

A video posted by Ashley Nicole (@ashleysayque) on Aug 8, 2014 at 7:19am PDT

Coffee in Ethiopia is an experience. As this lil video shows it takes time to prepare a cup of coffee, and in Ethiopia they embrace it. My host mom would offer me a cup of coffee and I'd accept thinking it was already made and all she had to do was pour me a cup. But no, she would begin this coffee preparing ceremony JUST for me and put in all this work. She'd put on this dress, have grass on the floor or these plastic green shingles to represent the grass (which is symbolic of good health I think). It was all too much, and I felt bad so I just stopped drinking coffee as much.

 

Traditional Ethiopian food is great, shiro, tegabino, kayowat, tibs, dorowat, etc... But you can also find other dishes. In Butajira one of my favorite foods was this beef shish kebab.

 

The soups aren't too bad either.

You can also find Burgers & french fries (they call them 'chips') but they don't use beef in the burgers just fyi.

 

Unless you are in Addis Ababa and go to a place like Shishu, which has beef burgers with real bacon!

 

The joy that is a Sambousaa

Sambousas are a street food, people will be selling them outside of stores or walking around with some to sell. They are deep fried with lentils & kayria inside. I've heard that they sometimes have meat in them but I've never seen it myself. These are great to grab on the go and the closest thing to fast food here.

 

As far as drinks go, you can easily find Cokes, orange Fanta and sometimes Pinnaple Fanta, Ambo (carbonated water) and flavored Ambo. Mirinda is another popular drink, it comes in orange & apple flavor.

Lawlz Shay (pronounced like -Lawse Shy)

The Us needs to jump on this little treat. Peanut butter tea O.O

Some places have it in country, some places don't. But its definitely worth finding & trying if you can. I've had really good Lawlz Shay & really bad lawlz shay.

The food here is pretty good as you can see, I really don't have anything to complain about. But I still wouldn't mind receiving a package or two with some American goods ;)
I just added a new tab called "wish list", soooo if the Lord puts it on your heart to send me a package, you know where to look lol