Ethiopian Food Glossary*

by Kristen on February 15, 2008

in Ethiopian Food

The food staples in Northern and central Ethiopian are injera, wat, and lentils. Some individuals may be lucky enough to have kitfo. Most of the food served in American Ethiopian restaurants, would be reserved, in Ethiopia, for either very special occasions or the wealthy.

For that reason, the menus in Ethiopian restaurant often differ, but, mercifully, they are usually in English. My advice: if you want to experience authentic Ethiopian dining, stay away from the specials, which are restaurant specific, and not always consistent, and take advantage of the combinations. I am lucky to have good dining companions who will order differently than me, so we end up sharing 8+ different dishes, which is a great way to experience and taste Ethiopian food.

I do have one recommendation; I have never had bad Ye-miser Wat. Marina is obsessed with Ye-kik Alicha. We are both vegetarians, but according to my carnivorous roommate, if you get any meat prepared with wat, you can’t go wrong.

The Essentials

Berbere= Red paste composed of numerous spices blended by water and oil: paprika, salt, ginger, onion, garlic, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, pepper, coriander, and fenugreek.

Injera= A flat, spongy bread which serves as both a pallet and mechanism for eating Ethiopian food. It consists of fermented millet, called Teff, which is the smallest grain in the world, and only found in Northern Africa.

Mosseb= The tradional basket-woven table.

Niter Kebbeh= A mouthwatering butter, sautéed with onions, garlic, cinnamon, turmeric, cardamom, clove, ginger, and nutmeg.

Methods of Food Preparation

Alecha/Alit’cha/Alich’a= Very mild stew.

Tibs= A method of sautéing meat. The meat is usually served chunky.

Wat/Wet= A mainstay of Ethiopian cuisine, wat is an often spicy sauce stained red by paprika. To give an indication of its ubiquity, “wat” is Amharic for “sauce”. Tsebhi is the Eritrean version of wat.

Lexicon of Food Terms

Asa=Fish. Asa Tibs is usually the seafood option.
Beg= Lamb.
Doro= Chicken.
Kitfo= Tartare steak, often prepared raw (but usually offered rare as well), and seasoned with cardamom, ginger, and other spices. Occasionally served warmed.
Sega/Siga= Meat (sometimes refers to lamb, sometimes refers to beef).
Sik Sik= Beef

Affiza=Slightly peppery lentils.
Gomen=Collard greens.
Kinche=Cracked wheat/bulgar pilaf often served with cardamom and butter.
Shiro=Vegetables, usually a mixture of various legumes and pureed.
Ye-Kik**= Split peas.
Ye-Misir/Ye-meser=Lentils.

Bunna=Coffee, which is usually stronger than American coffee.
Tej=Honey wine that comes in red and white varieties. Often homemade.
Tella=Beer. If they stock Addis beer, make sure to try it! It’s a dark, heavily hopped beer made in the Ethiopian tradition, based off of natural fermentation of millet reacting to airborn yeast and wild hops.

Ethiopian Dishes

Alicha tibs= Mild beef with onions.
Awaze tibs= Chewy steak chunks served in a thin, slightly peppery sauce.
Buticha= Garbanzo flour, jalapeno peppers, and green onions. Very spicy.
Fasolia Wat=String beans and carrots (I have also seen this as Yatakilt Wat)
Inqoudai= Chickpea puree with mushrooms.
Katenya= Appetizer made with spiced spinach and cheese rolled in injera and served with yoghurt sauce.
Lab= Cottage cheese with yoghurt.
Mitin Shiro= Crushed chickpeas with pepper. Possibly Eritrean.
Samboosa= Fried pastry filled with meat or lentils.
TifTif=Tomato salad.
Timatim fitfit= A mix of garlic, potatoes, and bread.
Ye-beg tibs= Chunks of lamb in a fairly mild sauce.
Ye-key wat= Red hot beef stew.
Ye-kik alicha= Yellow spilt peas served with a mild sauce.
Ye-mesir wat= Red lentils served in a spicy red sauce.
Ye-shimbra assa=Chick pea fritters, usually deep-fried.
Zilzil tibs= Beef strips in red sauce with a lot of peppers and cumin.

* I was unable to locate a comprehensive and reliable guide to Ethiopian food or an Amharic dictionary, so I cannot vouch for the absolute accuracy of my translations. I included alternate spellings, which may reflect Eritrean influences (e.g. “enjera” is Eritrean for “injera”). Some of the dishes may be Eritrean as well—I, unfortunately, have no means of verifying this. Comments, additions, and corrections are encouraged! I consider this list to be in a perpetual state of development.

** The Ye found before so many dishes appears to be purely grammatical; when puzzling out the terms look to the right of the “ye”.

 

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Restaurant Rating System

by Marina Martin on February 15, 2008

in Restaurant Reviews

Overall Experience
1 – Stay away. Far, far away.
3 – Worth trying (if it’s the only place around).
5 – Go. Now. Don’t even bother stopping for the $200.

Menu Variety
1 – Only a handful of selections.
3 – Average number of selections.
5 – Wide variety of selections.

Food Quality
1 – Food poisoning.
3 – We swallowed it (grudgingly).
5 – Our mouths water at the mere thought.

Value
1 – There went the rent!
3 – Fair compensation for the food.
5 – They obviously make their money from repeat business!

Service
1 – We didn’t leave a tip.
3 – We tipped 15%.
5 – We tipped 30%.

Ambiance
1 – We left just before the roof caved in.
3 – Appearance of a traditional American restaurant.
5 – Traditional seating arrangements and décor; ethnic servers.

 

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Blue Nile (Minneapolis, MN)

by Marina Martin on July 26, 2006

in Restaurant Reviews

Blue Nile
2027 E Franklin Ave, Minneapolis MN

Overall Experience: 2.5
Menu Variety: 2.0
Food Quality: 3.0
Value: 3.0
Service: 2.5
Ambiance: 2.0

When I called to see if I needed reservations, the man who answered said I was looking at “at least” a 45-minute wait, so I scheduled my party of three well in advance for 7:30pm (on a Saturday night). The restaurant was easy to find from southern St. Paul, although parking is nearly non-existent.

The entrance is on the opposite side from the parking lot of a seedy building. Two men dressed in traditional Ethiopian garb were standing outside the door smoking cigarettes. They composed the sum of the evening’s ethnic experience. Were I not escorted by two strapping, devilishly-handsome men, and if I were less fearless and it less light out, I may not have gone in. [EDIT: I should have phrased this better. The outside of the building and neighborhood are not in the most savory area and did not signal to me that an Ethiopian restaurant was inside. I was not saying I was afraid of the men smoking outside, I was saying that their wardrobe was seemingly the only Ethiopian part of my evening.]

Half of the Blue Nile is a bar. We didn’t explore that side, but it was exceptionally dark with moderately loud African music playing. A few men could be seen inside. It did not seem to be populated. (Keep in mind this is Minneapolis. On a Saturday night. There is NOTHING to do in Minneapolis except drink. Or go to the Mall of America.)

Remember that 45-minute wait? When we walked in, there was one table filled. One. There was also one person working, doubling as host and waiter. Despite the distinct lack of diners, the wait time for our drinks, our appetizer, and our meal was the longest I have experienced at any Ethiopian restaurant.

The food itself was so-so. I would suggest trying another Ethiopian restaurant in the area if you’re looking for an injera feast. I am used to a different Ethiopian food experience.

UPDATE: A Blue Nile employee has kindly cleared up a couple of my comments. I have edited the post accordingly.

 

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Cafe Eritrea (Oakland, CA)

by Marina Martin on June 13, 2006

in Restaurant Reviews

Café Eritrea D’Afrique
4069 Telegraph Ave, Oakland CA

Overall Experience: 4.0
Menu Variety: 4.0
Food Quality: 4.0
Value: 4.0
Service: 4.0
Ambiance: 3.5

I happened upon Café Eritrea entirely accidentally. I was supposed to take a friend to Addis, my favorite Ethiopian restaurant in Northern California, for his first Ethiopian experience. No one mentioned that Northern Californians have some sort of aversion to being open on Mondays, however, so after I dragged my poor friend on a 90-minute drive only to be greeted by a “Closed” sign, I was determined to find Ethiopian food nonetheless. A brisk walk up Telegraph yielded gold (and saved my friendship): Café Eritrea.

The dining area was on the small side, with square glass tables and black chairs. Ethnic music was playing, but there was little in the way of decoration. However, arguably, minimalism is Ethiopian.

The menu lists a vegetarian sampler option for one person, but only lists the meat sampler for two or more. If you ask, however, you can get a sampler for two that is half vegetarian, half meat. I’ve found this is the best way to break someone in who has never had Ethiopian before, as even the most hardcore of meat eaters wants a little vegetable complement. The kik alicha was perfect; the gomen was slightly dry, but still delectable.

Their injera was twice as thick as any other I’ve experienced so far. My dining partner and I each had only one piece of bread (not counting the injera the food was actually served on) and could barely finish just that, when normally I find myself asking for a second basket. Though it took some getting used to, I actually preferred this thicker injera.

 

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Ethiopian Diamond (Chicago, IL)

by Kristen on April 14, 2005

in Restaurant Reviews

Ethiopian Diamond
6120 N. Broadway Ave, Chicago

Overall Experience: 4.5
Menu Variety: 4.5
Food Quality: 4.5
Value: 5.0
Service: 5.0
Ambiance: 3.0

Just a few blocks north of Ras Dashen, Ethiopian Diamond is another jewel to be found in the Edgewater community. I think this particular part of Chicago may be home to our small yet not insignificant Ethiopian population as there are African stores in between the restaurants, and the clientale is approximately 60% African, compared to the usual >5% in any other neighborhood in the city.

A huge rectangle, the restaurant is divided into a smoking and non-smoking. There is a TV in the far corner surrounded by floor space, but the restaurant has the capacity to accomodate many large groups at once. Unfortunately, there is not the option of mosseb seating, although they tantalizingly put a few up on banquet tables. The tables, with white clothes under protective coverings, are standard, but the extensive African art and Amharic on the walls gives the restaurant proper cultural atmosphere. In addition, the propensity of actual Africans, not just google-eyed students is comforting as you can be rest assured that your food is actually being judged by proper standards.

The menu doesn’t have a wide variety of options, and the meat and vegetable combinations use 2 and 3 options, respectively. There are various tibs and wats for a surprisingly large selection of fish, beef, and lamb options, and kitfo prepared raw or rare. There are sambusas (spinach, beef, lentils etc.) offered as an appetizer. An entree ranges from $7-$10, with all the vegetarian options under $9 and the combo about $9.50. There are around 12 vegetarian options, including the option of both kik wat and kik alicha, a “fish” entree, and a few variants on gomen, which I haven’t seen before. There is not my beloved kinche, but they do offer shiro, but not as part of the combination.

Important note: Dinner is served with ye-meser wat (spicy lentils), lb (soft cheese), and a light salad.

I am going to stop here, as I have work to accomplish, but I will leave with this advice: their food is amazingly fresh and well-flavored, albeit not extradordinarily spicy. For that reason, vegetarians, I suggest the kik wat (spicy chick peas), as the kik alicha (mild chick peas) would probably be too bland as the wat tasted more like alica. The gomen is fantastic, as is the ye-meser wat, whose texture is perfect. The lb is crumbly, but has a mild taste which blends perfectly with the gomen. From what I hear, the kitfo is excellent.

The service is also fantastic.

 

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Ras Dashen 2.0 (Chicago, IL)

by Kristen on March 16, 2005

in Restaurant Reviews

The Sunday chef is amazing. Upon returning, the Ye-meser wat was perfectly spiced, the shiro was still a bit runny (it kind of overpowered the entire injera, so if you order it, make sure other people are willing for it to invade their choices) but the spices were just right, and the zilzil tibs, chunks of beef in a less spicy but still tasty sauce, were delicious.

We also got an “amuse bouche” of lb, and the texture was similar to feta cheese, but less thick and the taste wasn’t overly sharp or distinct but heavily flavored with Ethiopian spices. The leleb kitfo was slightly fatty this time, but still great.

Once again, a fantastic overall experience.

 

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Ras Dashen Ethiopian Restaurant (Chicago, IL)

by Kristen on March 3, 2005

in Restaurant Reviews

Ras Dashen
5846 N. Broadway Ave, Chicago

Overall Experience: 5.0
Menu Variety: 4.0
Food Quality: 5.0
Value: 3.0
Service: 5.0
Ambiance: 5.0

Even though I have yet to find a restaurant which parallels Addis Abeba (R.I.P.), Ras Dashen is an excellent substitute. Located in the Edgewater neighborhood, it occupies a stretch of Broadway that has two other Ethiopian restaurants and a few African stores. There is one store right next to the restaurant, which actually sells teff–the grain behind injera.

The restaurant is not particularly spacious, and by 8:00, there was a small wait. Still, the sparse elegant African decor and subdued lightning help belie the crowds. There are both the traditional mosseb seating (with or without chairs), and tables. I was most impressed with the service, as the service in Ethiopian restaurants tend to be more, er, laidback than we Americans expect. We received our check promptly, got immediate refills on our injera (without asking!), and barely waited for anything. Our waitress was friendly and funny.

The menu was fairly extensive. There were only two appetizers (lentil soup or sambusas), but there were approximately 16 vegetarian options, 4 of which are entrees and the rest sides which could be turned into entrees. The meat selection covered beef, lamb, fish, and kitfo with different varieties of preparation (wat tibs, etc.).There was the option of a meat combination (2 choices) and vegetarian combination (5 choices). Three sides are allowed per table. The prices were kind of high, about $15-$20 per person, but that tends to be the case everywhere.

We started off with the sambusas. They are offered with beef, vegetables, or lentils, and we got the lentils. They were crisp and small, and there was only a tiny amount of lentils inside, but I thought that was good as I didn’t want to get too full before dinner. The dipping sauce was tart and contrasted well.

I ordered the entree, as I am not a fan of all the sides (okra, string beans) and my stomach didn’t feel well enough to try lb, soft cheese. Someone else ordered it and it very much resembled cream cheese. I ordered the shiro (pureed chickpeas), and my sides were Ye-meser, Gomen, and Kik Alicha. My esteemed dining companion ordered the meat combinaton with leleb (sp?) kifto, slightly cooked, and sega wat, beef in that infamously spicy sauce.

The gomen was the best I have ever had. They interspersed broccoli bits with the collared greens which cut down on the bitter flavor, and heavily spiced it, which I really enjoyed. The kik alicha (yellow split peas) was not spiced enough, so the split peas kind of overwhelmed the taste. The Meser was excellent, as I love lentils and they didn’t puree them to a mush, but I wish they added more wat.

The Shiro was superb in taste, very flavorful, but the texture was a little too liquid, which made injera dipping difficult. I cannot remark on the kitfo as I do not like it, but my companion claimed it was excellent, although not spicy enough (which is his complaint for almost everything). The sega wat was outstanding: small chunks of beef in wat which was juicy and full of flavors.

We ended the night with some Ethiopian coffee and tea. I had chai spiced with cardamun which smelled heavenly and tasted just as good. The Ethiopian coffee was thick and strong and also smelled delighful. It was served in an authentic jug. They also offer yellow Tej, which was not too sweet, and a selection of Ethiopian beers. My companion tried the Harar, which was dark with a heavily hopped finish.

Overall, I had a great experience. The atmosphere is warm and inviting and I noticed some Africans eating there, which is always reassuring (nothing like going to an ethnic restaurant like Tiffin and seeing only upper class Chicagoans). They are also open late (11). A perfect Saturday night excursion.

 

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On the Passing of Addis Abeba and Ethio Café in Chicago

by Kristen on February 20, 2005

in Restaurant Reviews

The passing of Addis Abeba, the most beloved and renowned Ethiopian eatery in our city was apparently a bad omen: I returned to Wrigleyville and found Ethio Café closed indefinitely.

Two Ethiopian restaurants closing in one month? How can this be? Chicago may be more famous for its Italian beefs and steakhouses than its ethnic cuisine, but we take pride in our restaurants as symbols of our diverse city and its rich history of immigration and assimilation.

Unfortunately, in the eyes of developers, sports and mega-bars are more culturally rewarding (read: profitable) than ethnic cuisine and culture. The hostess at Addis told me that when their new landlord callously raised the rent, they immediately had to shut down—they didn’t even have time to find a new location. Our surmise is that the same happened for Ethio Café since it is less than 2 blocks from Addis.

Wrigleyville may get obnoxious during the baseball season, but I always thought the neighborhood had character. It is in the center of the North side, where, over time, isolated immigrant groups melded together and flourished, which used to be reflected in its quaint shops, restaurants, and nightlife. Now, we find a neighborhood almost as bland as the fake Irish and sports bars that seem to spring up at ever increasing rates.

This travesty also has dire implications for other Ethiopian restaurants in Chicago. Aside from Mama Desta’s (which is unabashedly Eritrean posturing as Ethiopian), our two remaining Ethiopian restaurants are practically out of the city and aren’t easy to get to by public transit; the loss of the Ethiopian element in one of our most thriving neighborhoods means a loss of exposure for an already sadly neglected cuisine.

 

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