Ethiopian cuisine

[Kean]

...so is anyone on this board familiar with Ethiopian food? My friends and I all shared from a large platter of various foods last weekend (which was the best Ethiopian I've ever had), and now I'm trying for the life of me to figure out the name of one of the dishes, so that I can dig up some recipies on the magical ol' internet.

Really, what I'm trying to figure out is what spices and seasoning goes into one of their stewed beef dishes -- The spices were still on my hands several hours after the meal, and it was just so damn tasty.

[Kazu]

Yes! Ethiopian cuisine is incredible. Never have vegetables tasted so good. Kean, I am sure you've also had honey wine to go with your dishes?

Everyone had been hyping up ethiopian food over here in LA for a while now. Many of my friends would ask if I had eaten Ethiopian food before, and I would answer "no," and they would react with large saucer eyes, saying things like "Ethiopian food is the best!! I can't believe you haven't eaten it before!!", whereupon I would run over to the nearest Ethiopian restaurant in LA, and enjoy the meal immensely. In short, it lives up to the hype. Great stuff.

[douglas a. bot]

Maybe its just me. But i find the whole idea of Ethiopian restaurants and exquisite Ethiopian cuisine kind of ironic.
I should see if we have a restaurant somewhere here in Melbourne.


d.

[Kean]

I wouldn't really call Ethiopian cuisine 'exquisite.' Their dishes are very 'meat-and-potatoes' in the sense that the ingredients are very very simple (usually not more than one or two different ingredients). It's the sauces and spices that I think makes Ethiopian unique. Just some hardy, tasty dishes (which makes sense, considering its origins).

But yes, I do see the irony in it all.

[JonS]

ethiopian food is pretty big in san francisco...

if you're in the area.. i'd recommend Assab, on Geary&Masonic...great place, real nice owners. ethiopian food tastes great with their regional honey wines...