Bob W wrote:
> > I discovered Ethiopian food before I went vegetarian. I've tasted
> > kitfo; didn't care much for it, but it was better than I'd expected.
> > Back then my favourite Ethiopian meat dish was zilzil tibs.
>
> I tried to avoid meat dishes while I was there, but it's not always
> possible. 'Fasting food', as it's known, is usually a better bet
> than the meat in most parts of the country. However, in some places
> you don't have a menu or a choice, and just take what you're given.
I'm not so well travelled -- the last time I left North America
I was too young to remember it. (This is something I'd like to
correct someday.) So my experience with Ethiopian food has been
in Ethiopian restaurants in the US (mostly Washington DC and its
suburbs, but also in Portland, OR ... and I think somewhere near
Boston, MA).
> I like Ethiopian food very much, and crave it from time to time.
*nod* It's certainly crave-worthy food.
> Injera is the most difficult thing to get right,
Heh. You can say that again! It took me many, many tries to
get even close when I tried to make it at home, and even then
it wasn't like what I get in restaurants. (And not having
been to Africa, I don't know how close the restaurants come
to how it is in Ethiopia.)
One problem is that the recipe labelled most authentic in the
Ethiopian cookbook I had, required a type of grain not easily
available in the US. IIRC, it also said that the batter should
be left uncovered long enough for wild yeast to fall into it,
which raises a big warning flag for me: that means _native_
(Ethiopian) yeast, so Maryland wild yeast may well produce very
different results. (I don't actually know whether yeast-species
makes as much difference in cooking as it does in brewing, but I
know it's a big issue for beer.)
I'd look up the details, but whomever I loaned that cookbook
to never gave it back. :-(
> of the restaurants have it flown in from Ethiopia daily.
Wow.
Oddly enough, friends in Virginia have told me that some
Seven Eleven (chain convenience store) outlets carry packaged
injera!
> I'm not familiar with the Kosher laws (beyond what 'everybody knows')
I've got a lot of Jewish friends. And you know the stereotype:
"It's a Jewish thing; if you have an hour, sit down and I'll
explain it to you" ... ;-) (actually, I ask a lot of questions).
There's more fascinating trivia in Kashrut than one might
expect.
> but it's interesting that you should mention it because before
> Ethiopia became a Christian country in about 300AD (?) the people were
> predominantly Jewish. The Falasha, who were air-lifted to Israel in
> the 1980s, are a relic. There are also other obscure Judaic sects
> there whose practices are said to be pre-Mosaic. Ethiopian tradition
> claims that Menelik I, and the royal line which ended with Haile
> Selassie, was descended from the union between the Queen of Sheba and
> King Solomon. I've been to the ruins of the supposed palace of the
> Queen of Sheba, just outside Axum - which is where the Ark of the
> Covenant is said to be kept. They wouldn't let me see it though.
#blink# Okay, I already knew some of that -- enough to know that
it's a very interesting place on several fronts -- but not all of
it. Gonna have to Google for further reading later.
I do recall reading that Ethiopia had been "isolated" long enough
for its cuisine to be considered "pure" -- not diluted by other
cultures -- but that it seemed to me the period of isolation had
to have started kind of late since they use potatoes and jalapenos.
-- Glenn
