Source: ClickEatDrink.com
Some of the most respected food critics across the nation have analyzed and graded the food and atmosphere of Ethiopian restaurants with performance ratings such as “Best African Restaurant,” “Best Vegetarian Food,” “Best Ethnic Restaurant,” and “Best Community Service.”
What distinguished Ethiopian restaurants from other restaurants?
Similar to most African restaurants, the art of eating at an Ethiopian restaurant extends far beyond getting a full stomach. Ethiopian food tastes best when eaten with your fingers and eating from the same tray with others. There is a tactile dimension added to the eating process. Besides, Ethiopian foods are designed to be eaten by hand and the art of communal finger eating signifies a trusting and bonding loyalty to those you are sharing the food with. It seems as if there is some kind of mystical intervention whereas social conflict, disharmony, and friction appears to evaporate, when the art of communal finger eating is taking place.
The art of communal finger eating
My mother, a Liberian, use to enjoy her dinner while eating with her right hand and holding a fresh scotch bonnet pepper in her left while biting into it as she eats. It is very important to eat with your right hand only. Your left hand is reserved for other functions and should never handle food, especially other people's food. Usually, your left hand rests on the table or your lap while you eat. Though it is acceptable to take a piece of bread, place it in your left hand and tear off pieces with your right, it is better to only use the right hand for pinning the bread with your little finger and tearing with your thumb and forefinger. You should use your clean left hand to serve yourself (using a utensil) or pass a plate of food. Never plunge either hand into food in a communal serving dish. You may come out with a nub.
From a westerner prospective, there have been questions as to what a left-handed person should do when eating or handling food? If at all possible, try and eat with your right hand. If it is too awkward, use the left, but perhaps explain to your dinner companions that you are left handed and cannot eat with your right hand.
Its the Injera stupid!
Another not too easy-to-copy and differentiating feature of an Ethiopian restaurant is the Injera – the bread.
I recently read an article in the Houston Press blog that described the Injera as:
Injera bread is a flatbread made from teff flour and is similar in texture and flavor to sourdough…if sourdough was as thin as a piece of cloth. Yes, it's a fair comparison to say that injera bread feels like eating a Dr. Scholl's insert. It's slightly porous, cold and a bit chewy, with a bizarre vinegar-like scent that one could associate with the inside of a shoe. It's an acquired taste, to say the least.
Actually, the injera is a stable of Ethiopian and Eritrean and it is a part of every entree. Injera is a thin crepe-like flat bread made of teff flour, rice, or corn and is served with an extensive menu of tantalizing meat and vegetarian with variety of spices from which they get their exotic taste. Stews such as wots, tibs and fitfit, watt stew which comes in the form of beef, lamb, chicken, fish and vegetables. They range from hot and spicy watt to very mild. The mildly seasoned watt is called Alicha. Gomen watt (variety of watt are made of lentil, peas and other vegetables are just as popular and tasty as those containing meat.). Collard greens simmered in a garlic and ginger sauce, kitfo (a seasoned steak tartare that's very popular in Ethiopia). Appetizers include sambusas, dough shells stuffed with vegetables and meat that are similar to Indian samosas are also eaten with injera.
Although traditionally injera is eaten in Ethiopia and Eritrea, there are similar variations eaten in countries such as Somalia where it is called cankerous or lahooh and in Yemen where it is known as lahoh.
How is injera eaten?
As stated above under “The art of communal finger eating” heading, pieces of injera are torn off with ones hand and used to scoop up the stew by the fingers. Though it is acceptable to take a piece of bread, in your left hand and tear off pieces with your right, it is better to only use the right hand, pinning the bread with your little finger and tearing with your thumb and forefinger. Using one's right hand, small pieces of injera are torn and used to grasp the stews and salads for eating. The injera under these stews soaks up the juices and flavors of the foods and, after the stews and salads are gone, this bread is also consumed. Injera is thus simultaneously food, eating utensil, and plate. When the entire "tablecloth" of injera is gone, the meal is over.
How is injera made?
Injera is made from self-rising wheat flour and teff flour (a grain native to the Ethiopia/Somalia region). In most cases, baking powder, baking soda or processed yeast is not used in the making of injera. Most restaurants still follow the old tradition today. Most Ethiopian restaurants avoid artificial coloring, artificial flavoring and artificial preservatives. Some stick to only vegetable oil and do not use butter, eggs, milk, or honey. In making injera, teff flour is mixed with water and allowed to ferment for several days. As a result of this process, injera has a mildly sour taste. The injera is then ready to bake into large flat pancakes, done either on a specialized electric stove or, more commonly, on a clay plate (Amharic mittad, Tigrinya mogogo) placed over a fire. Unusual for a yeast bread, the dough has sufficient liquidity to be poured onto the baking surface, rather than rolled out. In terms of shape, injera compares to the French crêpe and the South Indian dosai as a flatbread cooked in a circle and used as a base for other foods. The taste and texture, however, are quite unique and unlike the crepe and dosai. The bottom surface of the injera, which touches heating surface, will have a relatively smooth texture, while the top will become porous. This porous structure allows the injera to be a good bread to scoop up sauces and dishes.
Checkout your local restaurant directory, find the nearest Ethiopian restaurant and have a hands-on dining experience.
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