Cuisine and Traditions

In Ethiopia, all the foods are enriched with spicy flavors and various foods are used for different holidays. After enjoying the food, it is topped off with the coffee ceremony and a snack which usually consists of traditionally prepared Ethiopian bread and/or cookies. Almost every meal is eaten with injera, a type of flatbread sourdough that is gluten-free, and everyday foods which are mainly vegan including mesir, shiro, aleche and many more. However, for holidays such as enkutatash people tend to eat more chicken and meat based foods such as kitfo, doro wot, tibs, dulet, etc (Kloman 36). 

The main flatbread injera is made with a species of grain called teff and the injera is stored in a large, round, woven basket called mesob (Kloman 6). In order to prepare teff, Ethiopians grind the clean teff and mix it with water and cover the thin dough for three days for fermentation, then place it underneath a clay pan with crushed oil seeds (Milkias 357). Additionally, the doro wot(chicken stew) is prepped with the spice berbere, chopped onions and garlic, black kuman, eggs and butter (Milkias 360). According to Paulos Milkias in his book Ethiopia, the coffee ceremony consists of three coffee serving that are freshly prepared with Jebana (coffee pot) (367). This coffee ceremony is a great way of gathering with everyone and creating an inclusive setting. 

Boston University Professor of History James McCann in his book Stirring the pot states that, “In those places and cultures a type of cooking involves the layering of ideas, daily rituals of eating, ingredients, and methods of assembling foods for both public and private meals that transform cooking and food into what we then call a cuisine” (McCann 7). The special ways of preparing and cooking food, as well as the traditions and ceremonies that come with it in Ethiopia make the cuisine. This emphasizes the significance of enjoying and participating in the rituals as opposed to simply consuming the food.  

Marcus Samuelsson, an Ethiopian-Swedish chef and restaurateur, utilizes his Ethiopian background to influence the new dishes and meals he makes. Samuelsson states that “My other window into food came from my relatives and my father, Tsigie, in Ethiopia. Spices are the key element driving taste in Ethiopian cooking”. Samuelsson’s Ethiopian Background plays a role in influencing the ingredients he uses to make new dishes and meals. This conveys the notion that cultural diffusion occurs even from African countries, therefore opposing the single story of Africa portrayed by western media.