Demeke Girma
TV Chef
Host of Ethiopian TV Cooking Show
Demeke Girma was recently featured on BBC for his pioneering TV Show & message to Ethiopians for more balanced diets by introducing some new dishes to their regular dishes. Excerpts follow from the news coverage.
TV chef battles Ethiopian hunger
By Damian Zane
BBC, Addis Ababa
Ethiopia is probably the last place you would expect there to be a celebrity chef. But a land sadly best-known for its food shortages now has its very own television cook, who thinks that the lack of diversity in Ethiopia's cuisine is a big factor in the food supply problems.
Demeke Girma, a chef, teacher and restaurant owner, is trying to introduce new dishes to the masses.
The 31-year-old got his training at Ethiopia's top hotel - the Sheraton. But now he is in charge of his own kitchen, from where every Sunday morning he tells the nation how to cook.
After a funky theme tune, Demeke goes through every stage of cooking dishes such as Spaghetti Carbonara or Russian salad, that are unfamiliar to most Ethiopians.
Demeke strongly believes that his countrymen should start eating something else apart from stews and the traditional flat bread: injera.
"The problem is everyone is eating injera, so the scarcity starts there. But if we eat vegetables, salads and soups, I don't think there would be such a scarcity of food," he says.
'Nutritional'
Aside from teaching the nation, Demeke runs cookery classes - he currently has about 200 students.
The cooking style taught is strictly European.
There is much that is unique to Ethiopian cooking which you might think is worth preserving but Demeke denies that he is turning his back on his culture.
"I don't hate Ethiopian cuisine," he said.
"The problem is the sauces are cooked for a long time, so they don't have any nutritional value and it's almost the same throughout the year."
By adding variety, Demeke hopes farmers will start growing different things - avoiding the soil problems that result from cultivating the same thing on the same land year in year out. .. read full text
|
