So Jana and I decided in order to get off on the right foot with this whole adoption thing, we should go and have ourselves some authentic Ethiopian cuisine. Therefore, last night, we went and experienced a little bit of Ethiopian culture at a place that reminded me of my time in Morocco (I went there just before my senior year in college). The feel of the place was very African--due in part, no doubt, to the Ethiopian wait staff, smells, music, men not in any hurry to move on to the next place, etc. There were brightly colored walls painted with green, brilliantly yellow, sky blue and pink hues. There were kind waitresses who could tell it was our first time eating Ethiopian food.
Of course, there was also the food. I honestly cannot remember what the name of our dish was, but for the uninitiated, most (or all?) Ethiopian dishes come with--and on (as you can see in the image above)--a bread called injera. I've never had anything quite like injera. The Mexican tortilla and Indian naan don't quite compare--even though they are similar. It's spongy, tastes like sourdough, and looks like foam rubber. But don't let that last description fool you: it's quite tasty. It's sort of gray-ish in hue and looks like a large, very thin pancake. You use it to grab your entree. I like that Ethiopians--and I guess quite a few African cultures do (Moroccans do at least)--eat with their hands. It's also eaten from a common dish--something else I remember fondly from my time in Morocco.
One word of advice: eat the injera upon which your dish is served (see the image above again). I think we looked like idiots last night when our waitress showed up and noticed our--by then--untouched soggy pancake bread, reddened by the strong spices of the stew and disintegrated in the middle by its liquid base.
