Shoestring Gourmet : Dining with the Queen of Sheba

by Alan Gore

Ethiopia may be a country that has recently fallen on hard times, but it has a rich culinary history. To understand Ethiopian cooking, you have to understand Ethiopian dining. To do it right, a party can all eat from the same large plate, without utensils, picking up bites of food by picking it up with torn-off pieces of thin, pancake-like injera bread. The bread itself is made from teff, a millet-like gain from the East African highlands. Okay, folks, individual plates are fine, too, if you insist.

What do you serve with your injera? Wat, or spicy stew of chicken, beef, lamb or vegetables, is what. Berbere, a strong spice paste sauce, complements many of this nation’s dishes. A mild seasoning called alicha may substitute for the fiery berbere. Some dishes you can try: Sik Sik Wat (beef stewed in red pepper paste), niter kebbeh (spiced butter), yeshimbra assa (chick pea fritters), yemarina yewotet dabo (honey yeast bread), tibsy, pan-roasted beef or chicken strips with onions and mild or hot spices; and ziggni, marinated beef chunks. With influences from Islamic times, pre-Islamic and Imperial Rome, there’s a lot more to Ethiopian cuisine than you might have imagined.

This month’s Shoestring will have a new host, Jane Khatiblou. She lives on the northwest side, but a new freeway brings her close to anywhere in the Valley. We will be gathering on Saturday, February 10, at 6 p. m. To make reservations and to coordinate dishes, call Ursula Gore at 602-863-9648 by Thursday, February 8.