Ethiopian Food

In thinking about coming back to the US there were two things I wanted to eat - lots of blueberries & ethiopian food. Somehow I don't tend to crave much food from back home. Living in Madrid, I can find just about any kind of ethnic food I might want and the ingredients for just about anything I'd want to make.

Blueberries are abundant in the states during the summer, so that has been easy.

Ethiopian food has been a little trickier since I was only in Lawrence, KS, three days and the restaurant I was hoping was still open was closed. Fortunately on my jaunt through Atlanta, in looking for a coffee shop I stumbled upon Amy's Ethiopian Café. I walked in and was welcomed by some strong cardamom smelling incense, by some strange looks (i was the only white, non-ethiopian in the place), and everything written in amharic (the language spoken in ethiopia, which is non-roman letters). I asked if I could have a glass of water and a half portion of one of the lunch vegetarian platters. (It was about 16:00 and I was planning to eat with some friends a bit later.) It was absolutely perfect. And while I ate, I watched some of the foreign news on Aljazeera, the Arabic News Network. It was perfect. The only unfortunate part is that I didn't have time to go back before I left.

So... ethiopian food in my opinion is incredible and some of the best ethnic food I've ever had. It is however, pretty different, so some people don't much care for it.

What I like is the rich, explosion of flavor you have in every bite. AND you get to eat with your hands and from a communal plate. You use the injera bread, which looks like a thick crepe, but is made from a grain you have probably never had, teff. It tastes a bit vinagery and has a texture unlike anything else. My dad is not a huge fan. You tear off a piece and use that to pick up the other foods. It is INCREIBLE!

So I've just looked up several restaurants here in St. Louis and am hoping to convince someone to go with me. Buen provecho!