June 20, 2004
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts: features the music and dance of Ethiopia, in recognition and celebration of millions of refugees, who have contributed to and enriched cultures throughout the world. International Refugee Day
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Unlike the food of almost any other country, Ethiopian cuisine has grown in a vacuum, undiluted by outside forces. Its mountainous geography kept it largely isolated from its neighbors, and unlike other African countries, Ethiopia escaped European domination. Only its position as a stop on ancient trade routes brought Ethiopia the cardamom, cloves and cinnamon, fenugreek, turmeric and other spices that are used so creatively.

The traditional Ethiopian menu is heavy with beef, lamb and chicken. Yet, because the country is made up mostly of Christians and Muslims who observe many meatless days, it also has a wonderful and extensive vegetarian selection, centered on lentils, split peas, cabbage, beans and greens like collards and kale.

Seasonings are crucial, with mountain-grown chili peppers combining with ginger, garlic, onions, spices, basil and a host of less familiar flavorings like bishop's weed, which resembles thyme, and false banana powder, which comes from a source that looks like a banana tree but bears no fruit. The flavorings are usually cooked slowly in kibe, a clarified butter similar to the Indian ghee. One thing almost never found in Ethiopian food is sugar.

To say that Ethiopian food can be spicy enough to set a rosy glow to the sinuses and mouth is like noting that French chefs use sauces, yet as with most things Ethiopian, it's not nearly that simple. Hot berbere paste and its spicy relatives awaze and mitmitta are integral to many recipes, yet different dishes have carefully calibrated degrees of fire, and some dishes, made without hot sauce and called alecha, are mild enough for the most sensitive palates.

Pulling all the disparate elements together is the injera, the spongy fermented bread imprinted with bubbles that tastes faintly of sourdough and resembles huge crepes. Almost every Ethiopian restaurant offers combination plates, perfect for first-timers and preferred by some veterans for tasting a spectrum of meat and vegetable dishes, from atikilt wot, a spicy stew of green beans, carrots and cabbage, to yebeg alecha, a mild lamb stew. It's helpful to remember that the word wot, which rhymes with hot, indicates that a dish is just that, while alecha means that a dish is mild.

Ethiopian food is served on centerpiece platters over injera, accompanied by plates of more injera, rolled up like so many dish towels. To eat, you simply tear off pieces of injera and scoop up bites of food. With practice comes deftness, and eventually you can strip the meat off a drumstick, bite by bite, using injera.