An Authentic Ethiopian Meal

We've been enjoying our Ethiopian experience,but we thought we would ramp it up a few notches by trying the foods endemic to Ethiopia.  Aynalem, as our housekeeper, cook, dog baby sitter, personal shopper (aka, indispensable) was our go-to person.  When we approached her to ask if she would make us an authentic Ethiopian meal she was more than willing. It's not that she hasn't adapted well to making meals more in keeping with our North American tastes, but here was her chance to make us food she had grown up with.  We were not disappointed.  She made enough food to feed Paul and me for a month so we took the opportunity to invite Aynalem, her husband and Temesgen.   Aynalem cooked all day and it was well worth the wait.  We enjoyed dishes of lentils, split peas, veal, chicken, potatoes, carrot and cabbage, spinach and injera.

Wat is traditionally eaten with injera, a spongy flat bread made from the millet-like grain known as teff.  Wat is an Ethiopian and Eritrean stew or curry that may be prepared with chicken, beef, lamb, and a variety of vegetables. Doro wat is one such stew, made from chicken. We enjoyed doro wat, veal wat, potato and carrot wat and assorted vegetable dishes (lentils, split peas and spinach).  You basically use the injera to eat your food in lieu of cutlery. Paul is a pro, but given that we had guests I didn't want to show my ineptitude. I resorted to a knife and fork. I will practice again, but in a more private setting. They all made it look so easy, but trust me it isn't, although I needed countless napkins, no else did. Hmmm? As I said I will need lots of practice. For now I will stick to "traditional" cutlery before switching to injera as the cutlery of Ethiopia.

After enjoying this wonderfully delicious and flavorful meal Aynalem treated us to a traditional Ethiopian 

coffee ceremony.  The coffee beans are cooked over a coal stove, then ground and poured into a traditional  Ethiopian coffee pot.  What an amazing end to a wonderful meal.  The coffee is served in small coffee cups. Although the coffee is very strong, it is so amazingly smooth. The tradition is to have 3 cups, but Paul and I wanted to be able to fall asleep that night so we limited ourselves to 2 cups. What a wonderful end to an evening.  We will continue to try other Ethiopian food, but thanks to Aynalem we are off to an excellent start.

Grinding the cooked coffee beans
  Our first of many traditional evenings in Ethiopia.