WASHINGTONIAN
- By Cynthia Hacinli
'' Addis Ababa (inexpensive). Goatskin rugs and handcrafted tables and chairs make for a stylish setting, and the food adds to the exotic feel. This is communal dining of the grazing kind, where you use bits of the spongy flat pancake known as injera to scoop up stews of meats and vegetables.
A good way to sample many tastes is with one of the combination platters served on a large round tray. On it you'll find such morsels as doro wat, chicken with hot peppers, ginger, and garlic; yebeg tibs, lamb with jalapeño and seasoned butter; kifto, minced meat served raw, medium, or well done with hot red pepper; tikil gomen, cabbage with onions and peppers; and yatakilt wat, green beans, carrots, and potatoes with turmeric. All are also available à la carte. The spicy fare goes well with sweet Ethiopian honey wine or the Ethiopian beer Harrar. If you're with friends, finish with the Ethiopian coffee ceremony..." >>more
Silver Chips - Montgomery Blair High School Newspaper
Mix, match; Reach and grab
Ethiopian food at Addis Ababa requires a different way to eat excellent food
- By Cynthia Hacinli
'' Addis Ababa (inexpensive). Goatskin rugs and handcrafted tables and chairs make for a stylish se
Outside the rush of downtown Silver Spring and chain restaurants lies Addis Ababa, a traditional, culturally-decorated Ethiopian restaurant that provides great food and a great excuse to eat with your hands.
The restaurant has two eating areas: one outside rooftop and the other ground floor inside. On hot days, the inside is definitely more appealing. On this day, there are four groups of people sitting around their meal as five customers sit separately at the bar, having a drink and enjoying the casual jazz music that is playing. The room is lit by lanterns hanging from the ceiling, emitting an orange-tinted light through the paper material that is decorated by images of Ethiopian people and animals.
Each circular table is low and small in diameter, with a shallow basket covering the entirety of the tabletop. The lid of the basket is lifted as the drinks are brought and placed inside the base of the basket. Simple appetizers are the tomato salad and azeffa, brought in small serving bowls and accompanied by a flat basket of rolled up injera - grayish-colored sponge bread traditionally eaten with Ethiopian food. Rolls of injera can be torn into small portions to be used as an eating utensil.
The eating process is quite simple: Start by tearing off a small piece of injera. Take it with one hand and place it over the food that you want. Pinch the two ends of the injera together as you scoop up the food, and put it into your mouth. ..." >>more
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