Meskerem

The topic of food is my favorite thing to write about. Cuisine is an excellent window into a culture and I have given a lot of thought to this particular assignment. I have tried all of the ethnic foods available in the Birmingham area, so I decided to take a trip to Atlanta so I could finally try some African cuisine.

 I haven’t always had such a loving relationship with food. I was such a picky eater as a child that I wouldn’t go to camp for fear of strange food. Going to my friends’ houses for dinner panicked me. Let me put it this way, I didn’t start eating cheese until well into my teens.

When I met my husband in high school, he already had an unrivaled love of food. Raw oysters, sushi, nothing was too big a challenge for him. He began to attend a culinary school and use me as his guinea pig. Aside from gaining weight, I also gained a passion that will follow me for the rest of my life. I realized that the paralyzing fear I had felt as a child was a fear of the unknown. From then on, I have lived by a simple rule: just try it. If it’s not for me, that’s okay. However, what I’ve discovered that I pretty much love it all! And once I break down that barrier of the first bite, I can’t wait to take another one.

I have many favorite dishes and kinds of cuisine. The food of my home will always be closest to my heart. Our cuisine is mainly derived from the European tradition. Spanish and Italian foods are prevalent due to the large number of immigrants from these areas. However, in a past life I must have been middle-eastern! I feel such a connection to the religions, colors, spices and traditions of this area. Cumin, cardamom, turmeric, curry, coriander, and saffron make my knees go weak. I have tried all the food I could get my hands on from this part of the world and never once been disappointed.

That brings me to my most current culinary adventure, Ethiopian food! I have heard such spectacular things about this food and never had the chance to try it before. I was lucky enough to have my friend Sofia visiting from New Jersey. She was staying in Atlanta, which gave me an excellent excuse to seek out new food. Our first night there we searched for Ethiopian restaurants and decided on Meskerem, an intimate and authentic spot with extremely knowledgeable staff. (I don’t believe they have a website so I will include the address in case any of you want to go. 2781 Clairmont Rd. Atlanta.)

“Meskerem” is the first month of the Ethiopian calendar, by the way.

We started with appetizers. I got Lentil Sambusas with a spicy jalapeno sauce. Sambusas are very similar to the Indian Samosas, which I also love. (In fact, I wonder if they’re not the same thing given their similar names.) They are triangle-shaped, deep-fried dough shells stuffed with a blend of lentils and spices. They were extremely delicious.

Lentil Sambusa with Jalapeno sauce

This is me enjoying my hot sambusa!

Both of my dinner mates, Andrew and Sofia, tried the lamb soup to start. It had a delicate broth with vegetables, potatoes, and large succulent chunks of lamb. Of course, I tried some. I’m a sucker for lamb in any shape or form.

For drinks we had to try the Ethiopian beer, Harar. It was very good. I’m not in the least a beer expert, but I believe it is classified as a pilsner, which is also common in Uruguay. It was reminiscent of a dark, German beer and complimented the food nicely.

Delicious Ethiopian Beer

That’s when things started to get interesting! For those of you who don’t know, Ethiopian food is eaten without utensils and is served family-style. In the words of my friend Sofia, “You really have to love who you’re eating with!” And that’s really the point:

“Dining in Ethiopia is characterized by the ritual of breaking injera (traditional Ethiopian bread) and eating from the same plate, signifying the bonds of loyalty and friendship. The quintessence of those bonds are often demonstrated in the form of gursha- that is, the placing of food on the mouth of another diner from one’s own hand.” (Source)

The injera is unlike anything I’ve eaten before. I’ve seen it described as crepe-like but the texture is quite different. It is very spongy and stretchy, which makes it perfect for picking up food and sopping up sauce. The taste is minimal, so that the dish itself shines.



Close up of Injera's interesting texture



The food is served on a large round platter and a layer of injera lines the bottom. The dishes are then poured into piles around the platter. Sofia, who had eaten Ethiopian before, told us that the best part of the meal is eating the sauce-soaked injera at the bottom of the platter.

I didn't take this picture, just found it online. It is a better-lit example of the way the food is served.

Since I had never eaten Ethiopian before, I asked the waitress to recommend dishes to us. We ordered one meat combo, which came with three different dishes (chicken, lamb, and beef), and two other popular dishes. I thought mistakenly, that I would be able to take a menu with me or find it online, so I don’t have all the details on the names of what we ate but I have been able to remember some.

The Zilzil Tibs seemed to be a very popular dish. It’s tender strips of beef sautéed in purified butter, seasoned with onions, and green pepper. It was the most recognizable of the dishes, as it was extremely reminiscent of the beef fajita. It was very good but probably my least favorite, as it was not very spicy and didn’t have any sauce.

We also ordered the Meskerem Tibs, which is chopped lamb in a spicy sauce, and I believe Doro Alicha, a sweet chicken stew served on the bone which proved an interesting challenge for eating with your hands. The meat combo also came with a side and we got lentils (can you tell I love lentils?). They were amazing. It made me wish we had gotten more vegetarian dishes or sides. Next time!

Our huge and glorious meal!

A basket with rolls of injera was served too. You break off a piece of bread, pick some food up with it, and insert into mouth. Repeat.

This is another online picture, which shows the rolled up injera that you use to pick up the food.

It’s pretty messy going until you get the hang of it, but extremely fun. The injera feels light as air, but has a tendency to fill you up quickly. We had to leave behind more food than I feel comfortable with.

A lot of people think that I love spicy food because I’m South American. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Although in many latin cuisines, chili peppers are prominently featured, Uruguay didn’t get the spicy food memo. I have a lot of fun watching Uruguayans try spicy food. A mild chicken wing would be enough to get any of the toughest men crying. I have had to acquire a taste for it, and quickly, as my husband adores spicy food. The spicier the better. We have about 30 different kinds of hot sauces in our pantry, no joke.

Some of these dishes were extremely hot! The jalapeno sauce that was fresh made for our table definitely knocked the wind out of us. It was so delicious though that I couldn’t eat it in moderation! That’s when we started thinking that some of the spicier cuisines have built in mechanisms for dealing with the heat. That’s why hot wings come with celery, and why I must have a mango lassi with my Indian meals. We asked the waitress if there was any Ethiopian heat remedy. I’m pretty sure she thought we were saying the food was too hot for us, but she quickly recommended a sweet liquor often used as medicine, called Ouzo.

Of course, I had to try it! She said one shot is often served in hot tea to treat common colds, but you can also shoot it, much like tequila. I took a little sip to get the flavor. It tasted like concentrated anise-seed, or licorice. I later found out it is actually anise flavored. I drank the shot and my mouth went numb for about five minutes. This stuff was rocket fuel! She was right though, it definitely took care of the spiciness.

I had a great experience at this restaurant. I feel like I got a good look into Ethiopian culture. It was particularly interesting to experience the way cooking styles travel around the world. While this food was unique, I could see and taste hints of other places and cultures. One of my favorite things about it was eating with my hands. Food needs to be experienced in the right context, with the correct utensils. Eating with my hands added to the sensory enjoyment tremendously. Picking meat off the bones with my fingers, getting my hands covered in sauce, the strong spicy smells, it made me feel connected to all other people who have eaten this way, without fear of germs or of sharing, just letting yourself be carried away by enjoyment.

Andrew and Sofia, who shared this wonderful experience with me.