Ethiopian

RE: Ethiopian (xannie_01)

Tue, 27 Jun 2006 16:07:13 GMT

whew! thanks so much.

RE: Ethiopian (zataar)

Tue, 27 Jun 2006 16:05:48 GMT

Oh, my gosh! Just this weekend when we were having Ethiopian food I asked my husband the same thing! I am totally left handed and can't possibly eat with my right. I'd have food all over the table and myself. No one has ever looked at me strangely, but Ethiopians are very polite people, so who knows. Maybe I've been faux pasing all over the place and not known it. I'll have to research this one, xannie. It's not a dumb question at all! I'll let you know if I find out anything.

RE: Ethiopian (xannie_01)

Tue, 27 Jun 2006 15:59:42 GMT

alright, this may appear to be a stupid question, but it's a sincere one.
is it alright to eat using my left hand? my right hand is virtually useless and i don't want to offend anyone.

RE: Ethiopian (zataar)

Tue, 27 Jun 2006 15:52:23 GMT

We have 2 very good Ethiopian places here in KC. Addis Ababa is down the street from me, Blue Nile is in the Farmer's Market downtown. They both have great music on at all times. The best for music is at Fasika in St. Paul MN. We were there in April and had to leave right as the dancing was getting started. I wish we could have stayed. The music was fabulous as was the food. Probably the best Ethiopian I've ever had.
Interestingly enough, the best iskista I've seen was at an ethnic fair, not at a restaurant. Lots of music, dancing and food from all over the world. KC has a very large ethnic fair every summer.

RE: Ethiopian (NYNM)

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 22:12:47 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by zataar

I have seen it. Iskista is the polar opposite of Irish step dancing. Step dancers don't move from the waist up, only moving their legs and feet. Iskista dancing is NOT moving from the waist down, only the upper torso seems to move. There is no way I could do it. The music is great. We had Ethiopian food this weekend and could have stayed long after the meal just to listen to the music.

Glad you enjoyed this dancing! I heard that, because Ethiopia is a Christian country, the religious influence forbad "suggestive" dancing from the waist down, so they invented iskista which is very suggestive...but from thw waist up.
Where was the restaurant you went to?

RE: Ethiopian (roossy90)

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 19:41:24 GMT

ASMARA ETHIOPIAN RESTAURANT:
http://www.mainepbs.org/madeinmaine/global.html

sorry, forgot this link.

RE: Ethiopian (roossy90)

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 19:38:39 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by lunamoth

Meskel in Seattle on E. Cherry is a favorite. Looking for one in RI or MA...anyone know of one?

When I was in Maine, I noticed a large Ethiopian population in Portland, and while trying to find the restaurant there, I came across this web site.
Good Luck....

http://www.nilefall.com/usa.html

RE: Ethiopian (lunamoth)

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 10:16:24 GMT

Meskel in Seattle on E. Cherry is a favorite. Looking for one in RI or MA...anyone know of one?

RE: Ethiopian (Sundancer7)

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 09:57:05 GMT

Zatar: Don't forget the okra!

Don't you think that the resemblance is due to the fact that a lot of the folks from the south were originally from Africa? They brought with them what they were familar with and continued the tradition. Especially the veggies.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

RE: Ethiopian (zataar)

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 09:52:16 GMT

I never thought about the food being similar to Southern food, but now that you commented on it, I agree!
Ethiopian collard greens are great. And long cooked green beans. Carrots with cabbage and potatoes. I had that this weekend and it is indeed reminiscent of Southern food.

RE: Ethiopian (Sundancer7)

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 09:36:53 GMT

The Ethiopian food I have experienced reminds me a lot of the southern food I grew up on. I had the pleasure of dining at one in Milwaukee. Food was very good.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

RE: Ethiopian (zataar)

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 09:06:12 GMT

I have seen it. Iskista is the polar opposite of Irish step dancing. Step dancers don't move from the waist up, only moving their legs and feet. Iskista dancing is NOT moving from the waist down, only the upper torso seems to move. There is no way I could do it. The music is great. We had Ethiopian food this weekend and could have stayed long after the meal just to listen to the music.

RE: Ethiopian (NYNM)

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 00:13:51 GMT

A great thing to do is find out if there is live Ethiopian music at the restaurant. I know in DC and NYC after midnight the local Ethiopians come in to party; their music and dancing (iskista) is quite distinctive....Has anyone RFer seen it?

RE: Ethiopian (hobomojo)

Sun, 25 Jun 2006 22:11:40 GMT

Chicago has a nice collection of Ethiopian food. I lived in Austin (which has none) after Portland (which has several) so when I spent a month in Chicago and found 3 Ethiopian places on the same stretch of road (N. Broadway) I was in heaven. The best, in my opinion, is Ras Dashen.

RE: Ethiopian (zataar)

Mon, 11 Apr 2005 11:33:21 GMT

Ethiopian food is fun to make at home. Any time I cook with 12 different spices it's fun. Injera is very easy to make and can be made ahead with no problem. I've made some Ethiopian food in restaurants with good results, but it didn't compare to my neighborhood restaurant. When I win the lottery and retire I'm going to ask the people who own it if I can hang out in the kitchen and learn from them.

RE: Ethiopian (Chef Susan)

Sun, 10 Apr 2005 18:14:12 GMT

I can't allow myself to go out for Ethiopian food anymore because I eat myself silly...and right into pain from overeating! I LOVE the sour injera bread...especially the section that is under the really vinegary salad. YUM. The place I used to eat was in Berkeley on Shattuck...but haven't been for years. Also used to eat in SF in the Haight at a place that was Eritrean (folks fighting to gain independence from Ethiopia) but it has since closed down. The food is just exquisite...but I have never tried to make it at home.

RE: Ethiopian (TJ Jackson)

Fri, 18 Feb 2005 17:17:52 GMT

Slowly expanding into those things. I do have my limitations, though, as to what I can eat and/or will eat, so I check ingredients carefully when I order ethnic food until I am comfortable with it.

The wife is even more limited than I, so exploring new things has to come on my own time, which limits me further.

RE: Ethiopian (carlton pierre)

Fri, 18 Feb 2005 17:06:12 GMT

Yeah, but how 'bout Thai, Japanese, Indian, Vietnamese, etc.?

RE: Ethiopian (TJ Jackson)

Fri, 18 Feb 2005 15:29:01 GMT

I'm not into african food, but who knows, I may try one one of these days and will be sure to share the experience here.

Oddly, i recall Teranga having some Ethiopian descriptor attached to it. ah well.

RE: Ethiopian (carlton pierre)

Fri, 18 Feb 2005 15:21:47 GMT

TJ, thanks for sharing those places in Cincy. I hope I get to try them out!!! They are West African, though, and that is not the same as Ethiopian. I've eaten west African food, in Charlotte, NC, as a matter of fact. Go figure. Anyway, it was quite good. I went to the same place 2 nights in a row.
Do you care for much ethnic food yourself? Would you be tempted to try either one of these places?

RE: Ethiopian (TJ Jackson)

Fri, 18 Feb 2005 14:27:14 GMT

Couple of places to share with you in Cincinnati, CP

http://www.cincinnati.com/freetime/dining/reviews/103103_african.html

RE: Ethiopian (carlton pierre)

Fri, 18 Feb 2005 14:23:37 GMT

Ferret, thanks so much. I was just there last week and wished I had known of this place. Ethiopian food is an interesting experience and a fun way to share food and conversation with friends.

RE: Ethiopian (the Big Ferret)

Fri, 18 Feb 2005 12:10:52 GMT

Carlton, it's at 17 East Queensway in the old downtown. You would take the exit for Hampton Univeristy of I-64. It's on a little street behind some banks and is close to the Virginia Air and Space museum.

Here a bit of information from the Newport News paper:
http://www.dailypress.com/entertainment/55990,0,2745178.venue

RE: Ethiopian (carlton pierre)

Fri, 18 Feb 2005 10:57:47 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by the Big Ferret

I've been eating at Bahir Dar, which opened last summer in downtown Hampton, Virginia. I thrilled the Tidewater area finally has a restaurant and I no longer have to go to DC.

Big Feret, please let me know the whereabout so f this place in Hampton. I'm in Hampton Roads area quite a bit and and would love to know the location of this place.

RE: Ethiopian (rbpalmer)

Fri, 18 Feb 2005 08:11:43 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by Jennie

P.S. Here's a real groaner of a name for you. http://www.thegrillfromipanema.com/

A corny name, but a good Brazilian/South American restaurant.

RE: Ethiopian (the Big Ferret)

Fri, 18 Feb 2005 07:57:50 GMT

I've been eating at Bahir Dar, which opened last summer in downtown Hampton, Virginia. I thrilled the Tidewater area finally has a restaurant and I no longer have to go to DC.

RE: Ethiopian (carlton pierre)

Mon, 31 Jan 2005 18:59:33 GMT

May have been good for you, Scarlet P, but then it would not have been Ethiopian. Suggest you give it another try sometime. The "bread" is really good. Give it a try.

RE: Ethiopian (The Scarlet Pumpernickel)

Mon, 31 Jan 2005 10:54:58 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by mtbuckingham

The flat bread is called injera, I believe. I've only been to Meskerem in Adams Morgan, DC- my first (and only) experience was good, but next time I'll go with fellow meat eaters (my vegetarian friend and I shared a meal). I really have no excuse not to go more, as it's in my backyard. I have to get over my mild dislike of sour-tasting spongy bread.

I've ony eaten at one Ethiopian restaurant, and all of the food came wrapped in that disgusting injira. I tried scraping it off into a bowl, but the spongy bread had absorbed all of the sauce. If the entrees had been served with a side or rice or by themselves they would have been palatable.

RE: Ethiopian (mapenzim)

Mon, 20 Dec 2004 19:42:35 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by kland01s

Theres a place in Chicago called Ethiopian Village. I've always wanted to try it, it gets good reviews. I believe it's in the Wrigleyville area.

RE: Ethiopian (Jennie)

Sat, 27 Nov 2004 12:40:38 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by meowzart

I second Marber. DC has great Ethiopian eateries, and if you go to the Adams Morgan neighborhood, you could easily do an Ethiopian eat-around. I like Dukem, too, and also Meskerem.

A washingtonpost.com search yielded 11 Ethiopian restaurants in the D.C. area. This is Tom Sietsema's review of Dukem:

You don't get forks or knives; as is typical of Ethiopian dining, the food at Dukem is eaten with fingers and pieces of injera, the slightly sour crepe that also stands in for a plate. If you're a novice, be advised: No staff member I encountered at this corner dining room spoke much English, if any. But pointing and enlisting the help of native Ethiopian customers, who seem to treat this as a community center as much as a place to eat, can land you some pleasant memories to take back home. One signature is kitfo, a mound of raw ground beef blended with house-made cottage cheese, herbed butter and hot red pepper. Imagine steak tartare mixed with fire. You don't have to be a carnivore to eat well, though. Follow the lead of seemingly every other table and request the vegetable combination: Out comes a floppy round of injera, dolloped with a variety of earth-toned dishes, from chopped greens and yellow lentils to a tomato salad sparked with jalapenos. Afternoon soap operas and CNN on TV yield to live Ethiopian music onstage Thursday through Monday evenings.
-- Tom Sietsema

Eve Zibart's review of Meaza says this of the injera and teff:

the injera at Arlington's Meaza -- injeras, in fact, the darker made entirely of teff and the paler half teff, half whole wheat -- has reconciled me to what can only be called the white-breading of many Washington Ethiopian restaurants. That, and the tripe.

"Bread" is almost universal shorthand for sustenance, both spiritual and physical; and in few cuisines is it more central than Ethiopian, where the injera, the large, soft pancake that is torn up and dipped bite by bite into the dishes, serves as plate, utensil and napkin as well as bread. Consequently, even a meal of the most exquisite lentil stew on humdrum injera quickly goes flat.

Teff, the small but nutritionally potent grain traditionally used for making injera, is expensive to import, and most Ethiopian kitchens and injera bakeries in the area have switched to part-teff blends or use buckwheat and other similarly sour doughs instead. (Injera is as pure a dough as it comes, with flour, water and a few days' fermenting, which gives it both the spongy, air-bubbly texture and the distinctively pungent flavor.) But none is quite as puckery, or as dark brown, as pure teff, and for those who love the real stuff, the teff injera at Meaza, though no longer made in-house, is as good as it comes, great pizza-size pancakes for $5 an order (about a half-dozen!). Even the half whole wheat, which comes standard unless you request the other, is better than most.

She loved Meaza, by the way, although she notes that the kitchen is "American-wary", and tends to backpedal on the spices a bit. Reading other reviews on the washingtonpost website, this seems to be true of an otherwise interesting-looking Nepalese/Tibetan restaurant called Himalayan Grill. Shame.

P.S. Here's a real groaner of a name for you. http://www.thegrillfromipanema.com/