Have you ever wondered about food from Ethiopia? What is it, what are the ingredients, what are its roots and where can I get it? Working with the local chefs for the Columbia City Farmers Market, I found myself exposed to a cuisine and people that have a special bond to the earth and to their country.
Ethiopia is landlocked in northeast Africa, rimmed by high mountains reaching over 15,000 feet, and shares rugged borders with Kenya, Somalia, Eritrea and Sudan. Through the centuries, only a few traders have permeated the borders to leave new ingredients behind.
People from Portugal introduced chili peppers while ginger came with Asian traders and many of Ethiopia's spices can be traced to Indian explorers. Coffee, honey, and grains such as sorghum, millet, teff and wheat are indigenous to the country.
Due to its large, southern Muslim population, vegetarian dishes abound on an Ethiopian menu. With the large, northern Christian population, meat dishes made of chicken, lamb or beef are also abundant.
Essential Ingredients
Teff, the North African grass, cultivated for its seed, is the ultimate powerhouse of grains that contains a symbiotic yeast, which means it has its own leavening agent naturally included. Although plentiful in Ethiopia, the teff grain must be imported, for it's not grown in the United States.
Teff is ground into flour, mixed with water and then allowed to ferment so the natural yeast will activate to make the batter for Ethiopia's staple bread, called injera. The batter is oured onto a large griddle and cooked like a giant crepe.
Considered the smallest known grain teff is nutritionally powerful and contains higher levels of protein and iron when compared to barley and wheat. It's also higher in calcium, potassium and other essential minerals than many other grains.
When served with Ethiopia's trademark spicy lentils and vegetables, injera provides a perfectly healthy diet that is satisfying for the palate.
To build the spicy flavor into dishes, Ethiopians use an essential red spice and herb paste called berbere, which equates to curry paste in Thai cuisine. Berbere, along with another ingredient called niter kebbeh, provides the beautiful color and flavor Ethiopian dishes display.
Niter kebbeh is butter that has been flavored with sauteed onions, garlic, ginger and spices. Add lentils, chickpeas and an ancient honey wine called Tej and you have the making of a perfect supper.
South End injera
When preserving the old ways of cooking, the best parts of the culture relating to the cuisine's origin remains intact. Like the Teff grain, the story of this community reminds us of the resilience of people and their spirit. What is special about food, when you eat authentically, is that you meet authentic people, and Southeast Seattle is no exception.
Like many food entrepreneurs, if you had asked Tadele Beyene five years ago, he would not have guessed that he would be running the popular Awash Ethiopian Restaurant in Columbia City at 3808 S Edmunds St. But food draws honest hardworking people into her web, and she doesn't easily let go.
Restaurants are known to have a high mortality rate, but the man at the helm of Awash has a special tenacity and optimism that keeps things flowing. To understand Beyene's success, one must take a brief look at his life.
Native Ethiopian, at the age of 21, Beyene escaped his communist-run country by walking to Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. He eventually was sponsored through a resettlement program to come to Seattle. Looking for a better life, Beyene built his business career by working in a professional dry cleaning business and later as an auto mechanic before launching Awash last February.
Beyene takes pride in providing Columbia City with "delicious Ethiopian food, a clean restaurant for people to enjoy, and a positive place for the community."
To keep authentic flavors in his food, Beyene buys the barbere and teff flour from Ethiopian sources. He finds American food easy and quick to prepare when compared to the cuisine of his homeland, which, when at home and with the right, raw ingredients, is made from scratch.
"Our food takes a long time to cook and prepare, with American food you can go in and they can cook it quickly and serve it," noted Beyene.
If you are a beginner looking for your first experience eating an Ethiopian dish, Beyene recommends starting with a veggie platter complimenting a meat dish flavored with Doro Wat sauce. Your order will arrive in a large platter lined with layers of soft,warm injera flatbread framing mounds of spicy lentils, chickpeas, potatoes, eggplant and seasonal, spiced vegetables.
The correct way to eat this communal platter is to break off a piece of bread and using your right hand, scoop up your dish of choice with the bread and then pop it into your mouth without touching the food, or your mouth, with your fingers. It's customary to eat one item at a time and not mix them together in the same bite, which is considered tacky.
If you go to Beyene's restaurant, those of you who are afraid of spice need not worry. Mierhi, Awash's waitress and cultural educator, will fix you right up with a dish to match your heat profile.
Whatever you order, make sure to finish your meal with an Ethiopian coffee service. Considered an important economic export and daily cultural practice of Ethiopia, having coffee allows for people to gather, share their friendship and build and maintain their community.
Tadele warns me, "You must have our coffee, but once you have Ethiopian coffee," Beyene urged before waring that once I do, "you will never go back, it is so delicious."
Naomi Kakiuchi may be contacted via editor@sdistrictjournal.com
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