50 Fun Facts About Ethiopian Food

Injera is traditionally made from the flour of which grain?

The tiny-seeded grass is native to the Ethiopian and Eritrean highlands.

Roughly how wide is a traditional injera?

Diners tear off pieces to scoop up stews, using the right hand.

With which hand do Ethiopians traditionally eat?

Pieces of injera are used to pick up bites of stew and side dishes.

What is the general name for the thick stews served on injera?

They begin with a large quantity of chopped red onion simmered in a pot.

Which church's fasting rules explain why so many of the country's dishes are vegan?

Animal products, including dairy and eggs, are banned during fasts.

On which two weekdays do Orthodox Ethiopians fast every week?

Lent adds a whole season, plus fifteen days outside Lent proper.

What is the name of the woven basket table on which a meal is traditionally served?

Injera is also stored in it.

Kocho is a bread-like food made from which plant?

The plant is pulverised and fermented; the root powder makes a hot drink called bulla.

Quanta is an Ethiopian version of what?

It is eaten as a snack or dropped into stews.

Pasta is widespread in Ethiopia partly because of a brief occupation by which country?

It is common even in rural areas.

What is considered the national dish of Ethiopia?

The spicy chicken stew comes with boiled eggs and is built on berbere.

Which spice blend of chilli, cardamom, fenugreek and cloves underpins most red stews?

Using turmeric instead produces the milder alicha wat.

What is niter kibbeh?

It is infused with ginger, garlic and spices, and swapped for oil in vegan dishes.

Mitmita is an orange-red seasoning based on which chilli?

Cardamom, cloves and salt go in too; it is the classic kitfo seasoning.

Which spice replaces the hot blend to make a mild alicha wat?

Both spices are omitted for plain vegetable atkilt wat.

What is the first step in making any wat?

Only once the onions soften is butter or oil added, then the spice.

What does the word "doro" mean in doro wat?

Siga is beef, asa is fish and beg is goat or lamb.

What is tibs?

An 18th-century visitor said it was served to pay someone a particular compliment.

Which 18th-century European described tibs as a dish served to show special respect?

It is still prepared for holidays and special events.

Kinche is a cheap, common porridge made from what?

It is finished with spiced butter and fried onions, or eaten plain.

Azifa is a cold salad based on what?

Mustard seed, jalapeños and onion give it its bite; buticha is the chickpea cousin.

Buticha, a cold chickpea salad, is sometimes compared to what?

Timatim, a tomato salad, is another common side.

What is fir-fir?

It is a hearty breakfast, also called fit-fit.

Difo dabo is bread baked wrapped in what?

Ambasha dabo is the slightly sweet celebration bread with decorative marks.

What is kolo?

Street vendors sell it in paper cones; it is also served with coffee.

What is tej?

It is brewed with gesho and gets stronger the longer it is stored.

Tella is a home-brewed beer made with barley and which plant?

It is served in dedicated tella bet houses and at holidays.

Areki, also called katikala, is what?

It is often filtered through charcoal or flavoured with garlic.

Kitfo consists of what?

Gored gored is the cubed-beef version of the same idea.

How does gored gored differ from kitfo?

Both are typically Gurage dishes.

Ayibe is a mild, crumbly cheese closest in texture to what?

It is served alongside very spicy food to soften the heat.

Gomen kitfo is made from which vegetable?

The greens are boiled, dried and finely chopped with butter and chilli.

Gomen kitfo is specially prepared for which holiday?

The feast marks the discovery of the True Cross.

In Sidama cuisine, wassa is made by grinding and fermenting what?

It is the base of borasaame, eaten by hand from a false banana leaf.

Fatira, a breakfast dish, is what?

Genfo, a thick porridge with a well of spiced butter, is another breakfast favourite.

Genfo is served in a bowl with a dug-out centre filled with what?

It is a thick porridge eaten at breakfast.

Ful, eaten at breakfast, is a stew of which bean?

The Ethiopian version comes with baked rolls instead of injera.

What is the clay pot used to boil coffee in the ceremony called?

The beans are roasted in front of guests and ground in a mokecha.

How many rounds of coffee make up a complete ceremony?

They are called abol, tona and bereka, and frankincense is burned throughout.

Besides sugar, what is coffee commonly served with in many parts of Ethiopia?

In some regions spiced butter goes in instead.

What snack is typically served alongside ceremonial coffee?

Toasted barley, or kolo, is the other classic accompaniment.

What do the Harari call their drink of boiled coffee leaves?

The Majang in the west call it kaari; it may be seasoned with rue, salt or ginger.

Ambo wuha is a well-known Ethiopian brand of what?

It is bottled from springs near the town of Ambo.

What is the fermentation starter for injera called?

The clear yellow liquid is skimmed from earlier batches of fermenting teff batter.

How long does injera dough usually undergo its primary fermentation?

Altitude, temperature and the amount of starter all change the timing.

Which colour of teff is the most expensive and a marker of status?

Pure teff injera itself is a symbol of wealth; poorer households blend in sorghum or maize.

Teff has been cultivated for its seeds since at least when?

Some estimates push domestication back to 4000 BCE.

The name teff probably comes from an Amharic word meaning what?

The seeds are under a millimetre across, so a handful sows a large field.

What share of the world's teff did Ethiopia grow in 2016?

Idaho, California, Texas and Nevada grow it marginally in the US.

In the lowlands, injera is often made with which alternative grain?

Highland cooks more often reach for barley; the diaspora frequently uses rice flour.