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A Guidebook to Ethiopian Cuisine

If you want to know what Ethiopian food is really like, take a look at "Ethiopian Cookbook: Pinnacle of Traditional Cuisine" by Konjit Zewge, translated by Mesrak Mekonnen (Xlibris, 2015).

The recipes in this book aren't adapted to the American taste, a publishing ploy that often results in a watered-down version of the real thing.

Instead, this is a document of food anthropogy, a look at how Ethiopians actually cook and eat. Zewge set down her recipes at the age of 89 so they could be passed on to younger generations. Mekonnen, her daughter, translated the book, which was originally titled "Yemouya Kouncho." (Mekonnen lives in San Francisco).

You may never cook these dishes, because they require ingredients you're not likely to find, among them oxen hump meat, false banana root flour, Ethiopian holy basil, fresh rue seeds and mastekakeya kimem, a spice mix that combines cardamom, cinnamon, caraway seeds, cloves and black cumin.

Even Merkato, a market and restaurant in Little Ethiopia in Los Angeles, had only a few of the ingredients called for, including the seasoned red pepper berbere, shiro, which is seasoned chickpea flour, and meetmeta--ground hot red pepper with cardamom.

The shelves there are stacked with individual spices, tea spices, legumes, grains and readymade injera, the flat bread made from teff flour that acccompanies Ethiopian meals.

The refrigerator contains tej, which is Ethiopian honey wine, used in some of the recipes. It's made at the market.

The plate of food at the top, from Merkato's restaurant, is lined with injera before adding assorted dishes that ought to fire you up to try this cuisine.

Clockwise from the top they are the house salad, two lentil dishes, an orange puree made from shiro, more salad, collards and cabbage. In the center are a mild lamb stew and beef in spicy red pepper sauce.

The beef stew is called yebeg sega wot (above, as it appears on the menu). Wot means stew and is basic to Ethiopian cuisine. In the book, the chapter of "Spicy Meat Dishes" includes 13 wots. It seems characteristic to add a large amount of butter to these meat dishes, more than we would think of using.

The dough for injera (above) has to sit for four days before it is ready to turn into thin, soft, spongy sheets. Portions of these are used to scoop up food.

Other chapters cover breakfast dishes, vegetables, grains and legumes, additional breads and mild, spicy and fried meats. A photo of the author is among the illustrations.

The book is available through Amazon and also from the publisher. It's a fascinating read, even if a challenge to cook with.

Online sources can supply some of the ingredients. If you're near Los Angeles, you can shop at Merkato and have lunch at the restaurant (above). The address is 1036 S. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90019. Tel: (323) 935-1775.

An Ethiopian Lunch at Rosalind's

The platter of food in the photo above may not look big, but four people couldn't finish it.

The place was Rosalind's Ethiopian Restaurant on Fairfax Avenue in the midst of a lively collection of restaurants and shops known as Little Ethiopia. The meal was a relaxed Sunday lunch. 

There were no individual plates and no utensils. But if you've eaten Ethiopian food, you know that you eat with your hands, scooping up the food with pieces of injera, a  spongy, sourish bread made with teff flour (above). If you like the bread, you can buy readymade injera and also teff flour at a market nearby.

One of the main dishes in the center of the platter is yedoro wot--chicken stewed with red pepper sauce, onion, garlic and gingerroot and spiced with nutmeg and cardamom. It sounds so interesting, but to be honest, I couldn't pick up the flavors, perhaps because the chicken mingled with the other main dish, a lamb stew called yebeg siga alicha, seasoned with garlic, ginger and turmeric. 

Circling the platter are components of Rosalind's vegetarian combination including (from left, above) red lentils, cabbage with carrots and potatoes and collard greens with onion and peppers.

Rosalind's is bright and colorful, with African art on the walls and African fabric wrapped around posts supporting thatched roofs that give you the illusion of eating in a rustic hut (above). There's a bar too, if you want to spike your meal with something alcoholic. You can see it on the left, through the arches that line the dining area. 

Rosalind's Ethiopian Restaurant, 1044 S. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90019. Tel: (323) 936-2486.

South African Food, Wine Come to L.A.

Sosaties, roosterbrood, Boerewors--this isn't the sort of food you find in Los Angeles, and it was here for only a day, when the Wines of South Africa--USA Brai Tour made a stop at Raleigh Studios.

This was such a rare happening that tickets were sold out, and people were turned away at the gate. Too bad for them.

Those that got in filled up on barbecue--that's the meaning of brai--including sosaties (kebabs), grilled sausages (Boerewors) and grilled breads (roosterbrood), accompanied by chutneys, salads and plenty of wine.  

Chicken sosaties (above) were strung with apricots, onion and red pepper, marinated in a curry sauce and served with a curry grain salad. Spicy flavors like these appeared in dish after dish, showing the influence of the Cape Malays--Indonesians whose ancestors were brought to South Africa as slaves. 

The chef for the tour, Hugo Uys, was born in Johannesburg but now lives in New York. He travels with a battery of spices, many of them for Asian/Indian cooking. There he is at the top, directing work on the grills. 

Uys adapts what he cooks to each tour stop. For Los Angeles, the third stop, he turned ostrich meat into tacos complete with avocado, tomato and cilantro (above). 

Cape Malay seasoned sweet potato frites (above) tasted of cinnamon, ground chili and possibly a touch of curry.  

These little grilled rolls, or roosterbrood, were stuffed with fig, lemon and chili jam. They were served alongside grilled peri peri shrimp in a California green salad with a lemon, ginger and honey dressing.  

Here is another version of roosterbrood--grilled cheese sandwiches to eat with a citrus-raisin chutney.  

The Boerewors--beef sausages with a tomato-onion sauce (above)--were next to a light carrot and fruit salad.  Plates of South African cured beef (biltong) and sausages were also set out.  

And how could there not be a South African favorite, malva pudding, for dessert?  More like a cake than a pudding in the version above, it contained cut-up figs and, as Chef Uys admitted, a lot of brandy. The topping was crumbled candied nuts and whipped cream.

But this was a wine tasting, not just a place to eat. An all-over impression from the wines poured is that South African wines are friendly, easy to drink and good matches for California food. 

There were Chenin Blancs and Sauvignon Blancs that would be perfect for warm weather sipping or with Asian food. A stand-out was Mullineux Family Wines' barrel-fermented White Blend 2012. The grapes in the blend are Chenin Blanc, Grenache Blanc, Clairette and Viognier. 

The most attention-getting wine was Pinotage. This is not a blend, as in meritage, but the name of South Africa's signature red wine grape, bred from Pinot Noir and Cinsault. The 2009 from Aaldering Vineyards and Wines (at left above) is an elegant example. Whether one can find these wines at local shops is another matter.

Judging by the price list, they're affordable. A man pouring at one table observed that for the price of a single bottle of Napa red, he could buy a whole case of decent South African wine.