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Ethiopia: Recipes and Traditions from the Horn of Africa
Ethiopia stands as a land apart in so many Never colonized, the country celebrates and preserves its ancient traditions. Its history is enriched with a religious mix-unique in Africa-of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The national borders contain one of the most fertile swaths of land on the continent. All this makes for a food culture as fascinatingly distinct as it is startlingly delicious.
Chef Yohanis takes the reader on a journey through all the essential dishes of his native country, along the way telling wondrous stories. There are recipes for Doro Wat, chicken slowly stewed with berbere spice; Yeassa Alichia, curried fish stew; and Siga Tibs, flash-fried beef cubes. Since many Ethiopians fast 250 days of the year, the cuisine boasts a wealth of vegetarian dishes. Among these are Gomen, minced collard greens with ginger and garlic; Azifa, green lentil salad; and Key Shir, marinated beet and potato salad. Then the book explains the intricacies and variations of Injera, the foundational sourdough flatbread made from the teff grain (which is gluten free and more nutritious than wheat).
Complete with photography of the country's stunning landscapes and vibrant artisans, this volume demonstrates why Ethiopian food should be considered as one of the world's greatest, most singular, and most enchanting cuisines.
Chef Yohanis takes the reader on a journey through all the essential dishes of his native country, along the way telling wondrous stories. There are recipes for Doro Wat, chicken slowly stewed with berbere spice; Yeassa Alichia, curried fish stew; and Siga Tibs, flash-fried beef cubes. Since many Ethiopians fast 250 days of the year, the cuisine boasts a wealth of vegetarian dishes. Among these are Gomen, minced collard greens with ginger and garlic; Azifa, green lentil salad; and Key Shir, marinated beet and potato salad. Then the book explains the intricacies and variations of Injera, the foundational sourdough flatbread made from the teff grain (which is gluten free and more nutritious than wheat).
Complete with photography of the country's stunning landscapes and vibrant artisans, this volume demonstrates why Ethiopian food should be considered as one of the world's greatest, most singular, and most enchanting cuisines.
240 pages, Hardcover
Published October 30, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
December 25, 2021
This book is beautifully done. Our cuisine is a direct reflection of our culture and our history. To write a cookbook of recipes cannot be independent of this. I am a first generation US born Ethiopian. My parents had many successful Ethiopian restaurants during a time when our cuisine was not yet an interest of the American palate. I watched my parents cook, I remembered the smells so as I duplicated recipes for my children, I went off of the memory of my upbringing. I recently began to wonder, would my 2nd generation kids have the same heart for Ethiopia that I do? Aside from them watching me and their grandparents expose them to cooking and custom, how can they truly come to appreciate everything else that goes with it. That which makes us infinitely proud people of Ethiopia. My family gifted me this book for Christmas. The literature tells the story of our past, shows us how to enjoy the present, and trancends us to all that the future has the potential to hold. For me, that means sharing the core of who we are to my children and my legacy. And the photos! The photos trigger memories of my feet touching Ethiopian soil, traveling the country side, tasting the dynamic beauty of our cuisine in different regions and how different tribes have different ways of celebrating through food and drink. I appreciate Chef Yohannes for the gift of this book and the gift of a family heirloom to pass on for generations. Well done!
December 18, 2023
Usually my criteria for a cookbook is whether I will cook from it and whether I learned anything from it. Since I know nothing about Ethiopian food -- except that Ethiopia is the source of two of my favorite coffees -- I picked up this book specifically to learn about the region and its food.
Will I ever cook from it? Probably not. While most of the recipes don't seem to be complicated, many do call for ingredients I'm not familiar working with and can't source locally. And since I've never had Ethiopian food, I have no reference point for whether the final product I might make would be "right." Probably better that I find a few Ethiopian restaurants to try first, which now I can do with more confidence than before because of this book. I admit what gives me pause are the ideas of trying to master that right-hand-only-injera-scoop-skill and some of the raw and extremely rare beef dishes. It's not the cooks I don't trust with very rare meat; it's the likes of Cargill, ConAgra, and Tyson.
So my praise for the book is based on the fact I learned a lot about Ethiopian food influences, customs, and ingredients. It's a fascinating culture and food history.
Will I ever cook from it? Probably not. While most of the recipes don't seem to be complicated, many do call for ingredients I'm not familiar working with and can't source locally. And since I've never had Ethiopian food, I have no reference point for whether the final product I might make would be "right." Probably better that I find a few Ethiopian restaurants to try first, which now I can do with more confidence than before because of this book. I admit what gives me pause are the ideas of trying to master that right-hand-only-injera-scoop-skill and some of the raw and extremely rare beef dishes. It's not the cooks I don't trust with very rare meat; it's the likes of Cargill, ConAgra, and Tyson.
So my praise for the book is based on the fact I learned a lot about Ethiopian food influences, customs, and ingredients. It's a fascinating culture and food history.
January 20, 2024
A very interesting book about a cuisine with which I was not at all familiar. Ethiopia is much more known in the west as a country of famine, wars and refugees – not a culinary hot spot. But, this book has changed my opinion considerably.
The book has a number of photos of the country and small sections about the food and customs. There are 80 different ethnic groups in the country. The most interesting thing for me, was how much the cuisine is dominated by religion: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Ethiopians were very early converts to both Orthodox Christianity and to Islam. The Christians have 250 fasting days a year – 180 of them for all Orthodox Christians, rest for priests, nuns etc. Fasting food is generally vegan, so there are a lot of vegetarian/vegan recipes in this book – but also a number of meat and fish recipes.
Many of the recipes do not have pictures of the finished meals, though some do. And there are pictures of some ingredients and of how to prepare Injera bread and a festive leg of lamb.
In total we tried 15 of the recipes, and have plans for others in the future. Almost all were very good, with nice clear instructions, and a few we will make again and again, in particular:
The only thing that did not work for us, was the Injera bread – despite the excellent instructions given. It was a real shame, as Injera seems to be a fundamental accompaniment to many of the recipes. My husband was very pleased to see on the internet, that making Injera well takes years of practice. We do intend to try again sometime.
The real highlight for me was the Berbere Spice Blend a mix of crushed dried chillies and spices that was used in a lot of the recipes, and I can think of so many other places to use it too. I will keep a jar of it ready mixed in the kitchen. There were other spice blends too, but that one really appealed to me.
I now want to go to an Ethiopian restaurant to see how the food should be made.
A recipe book that I would recommend highly.
The book has a number of photos of the country and small sections about the food and customs. There are 80 different ethnic groups in the country. The most interesting thing for me, was how much the cuisine is dominated by religion: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Ethiopians were very early converts to both Orthodox Christianity and to Islam. The Christians have 250 fasting days a year – 180 of them for all Orthodox Christians, rest for priests, nuns etc. Fasting food is generally vegan, so there are a lot of vegetarian/vegan recipes in this book – but also a number of meat and fish recipes.
Many of the recipes do not have pictures of the finished meals, though some do. And there are pictures of some ingredients and of how to prepare Injera bread and a festive leg of lamb.
In total we tried 15 of the recipes, and have plans for others in the future. Almost all were very good, with nice clear instructions, and a few we will make again and again, in particular:
Yellow Split Peas in a Mild Ginger and Onion Sauce
Braised beetroot batons with Jalapeno peppers
Potatoes and Cabbage in Ginger Turmeric sauce
Slow-cooked Spicy Chicken with Hard-boiled Eggs
Spicy Fish and Onion Stew
The only thing that did not work for us, was the Injera bread – despite the excellent instructions given. It was a real shame, as Injera seems to be a fundamental accompaniment to many of the recipes. My husband was very pleased to see on the internet, that making Injera well takes years of practice. We do intend to try again sometime.
The real highlight for me was the Berbere Spice Blend a mix of crushed dried chillies and spices that was used in a lot of the recipes, and I can think of so many other places to use it too. I will keep a jar of it ready mixed in the kitchen. There were other spice blends too, but that one really appealed to me.
I now want to go to an Ethiopian restaurant to see how the food should be made.
A recipe book that I would recommend highly.
March 15, 2021
Normalerweise sage ich nicht, dass ich Kochbücher "lese" und meistens führe ich sie auch nicht hier auf. Aber bei diesem Werk verhält es sich anders. Denn tatsächlich kann ich hier guten Gewissens behaupten, das Buch "gelesen" zu haben.
Denn Gebreyesus Buch besteht nicht einfach nur aus einer Ansammlung von Rezepten, sondern beinhaltet noch so viel mehr. So zeigen die grossen Bilder die Seele Äthiopiens und haben mir sehr dabei geholfen, mir ein Bild dieses fremden Landes zu machen. Hinzu kommen die Texte über die Rezepte selbst, die dem Leser die Traditionen und Bräuche Äthiopiens aufzeigen.
Dies zusammen macht dieses Kochbuch zu mehr als nur einem simplen Titel, den man einfach in die Küche stellt und vergisst. Dieses Buch hat Seele und strotz nur so von Liebe und Zuneigung zu einem Land, über das ich kaum etwas weiss.
Theoretisch kann man "Ethiopia" also auch lesen, ohne sich dabei hinterher in die Küche zu wagen. Wer etwas mehr über Land und Leute in Erfahrung bringen möchte, kommt hier genauso auf seine Kosten, wie jene, die neue Rezepte suchen, die hier eher unbekannt sind.
Demnächst geht es dann auch bei mir ans Kochen von bisher unbekannten Rezepten!
Denn Gebreyesus Buch besteht nicht einfach nur aus einer Ansammlung von Rezepten, sondern beinhaltet noch so viel mehr. So zeigen die grossen Bilder die Seele Äthiopiens und haben mir sehr dabei geholfen, mir ein Bild dieses fremden Landes zu machen. Hinzu kommen die Texte über die Rezepte selbst, die dem Leser die Traditionen und Bräuche Äthiopiens aufzeigen.
Dies zusammen macht dieses Kochbuch zu mehr als nur einem simplen Titel, den man einfach in die Küche stellt und vergisst. Dieses Buch hat Seele und strotz nur so von Liebe und Zuneigung zu einem Land, über das ich kaum etwas weiss.
Theoretisch kann man "Ethiopia" also auch lesen, ohne sich dabei hinterher in die Küche zu wagen. Wer etwas mehr über Land und Leute in Erfahrung bringen möchte, kommt hier genauso auf seine Kosten, wie jene, die neue Rezepte suchen, die hier eher unbekannt sind.
Demnächst geht es dann auch bei mir ans Kochen von bisher unbekannten Rezepten!
September 14, 2019
Review absolutely pending....
August 25, 2024
Well kindle ate my review. And it was beautiful and paid so much praise to the author. Ugh.
Just pretend this entire review is a love story to the author.
Just pretend this entire review is a love story to the author.
Read
April 27, 2022Cooking, specifically the ability to make something other people might also want to eat, is a very recently acquired skill for me. I don't find it fun. I hate subsistence; I like projects. I am way more likely to try and fail at some absurd and time-consuming preparation from a book than to actually make myself dinner every night. But I am trying, with time, to do things repeatedly and develop a set of skills and instincts, and I find it useful every once in a while to disrupt those instincts with cooking from other places. This book was full of surprises--while I've had a fair amount of exposure to Persian cooking, far to the north, Ethiopia's set of techniques and ingredients is like a grammar from a totally different linguistic family. They use different utensils to cook on. They grow different crops. They eat raw beef and smoke milk and ferment the hearts of banana plants. I am completely fascinated.
Just to be honest, I have not (yet) made any recipes from this book. Although it is beautifully laid out and there are some nods to Western habits, available ingredients, and unwillingness to devote real time to food preparation, the overwhelm of learning this whole different grammar of Ethiopian cuisine is still a bit much for me. But as a reading experience, as an opportunity to sit on my couch and get some small glimpse into daily life on the Horn of Africa, this is fantastic and highly recommended.
Just to be honest, I have not (yet) made any recipes from this book. Although it is beautifully laid out and there are some nods to Western habits, available ingredients, and unwillingness to devote real time to food preparation, the overwhelm of learning this whole different grammar of Ethiopian cuisine is still a bit much for me. But as a reading experience, as an opportunity to sit on my couch and get some small glimpse into daily life on the Horn of Africa, this is fantastic and highly recommended.
April 14, 2019
A beautiful book with tons of information, but definitely not for entry-level.
April 28, 2021
This one’s a keeper.
March 15, 2025
This is tied with the Phaidon Thailand cookbook for most beautiful cookbook I have seen. The photos of Ethiopia are just stunning and the food photography is very good.
The author is great at introducing you to the culture but I feel his explanations of the food and the recipes themselves can be a bit confusing. Some are easier to follow than others. The shiro recipe is, at this stage, my white whale. I have tried it a couple of times without success. Ditto the traditional injera. However some recipes are pretty simple once you have the berbere and tesmi made. The duba wat is fantastic and the lentil dishes are all delicious and easy.
I sold my copy at one stage when I had to downsize my book collection but missed it enough to repurchase it.
The author is great at introducing you to the culture but I feel his explanations of the food and the recipes themselves can be a bit confusing. Some are easier to follow than others. The shiro recipe is, at this stage, my white whale. I have tried it a couple of times without success. Ditto the traditional injera. However some recipes are pretty simple once you have the berbere and tesmi made. The duba wat is fantastic and the lentil dishes are all delicious and easy.
I sold my copy at one stage when I had to downsize my book collection but missed it enough to repurchase it.
November 29, 2020
Read this before a trip to Ethiopia earlier this year. It was very useful for getting me oriented to the food of Ethiopia, as well as the culture behind it. Beautiful photography as well, the book really transports you to the beautiful land of origins
March 9, 2023
2023 bk 84. A beautifully written and photographed book on the various ethnic groups, culture, traditions, and food of Ethiopia. I found several recipes that are keepers. (Lentil salad, tomato salad, kidney and okra stew) for my collection. Well worth the effort of finding this title.
September 17, 2021
Beautifully photographed book with information about spices, cooking techniques, culture, and recipes. It inspired me to find a delicious blend of Ethiopian spices.
November 2, 2022
Though Ethiopian is probably the most familiar African cuisine in my area of USA, there are few cookbooks that present the food in a knowledge and accessible manner.
This book is a gem. It’s beautiful in presentation and a wonderfully easy tutorial on making all one’s favorites of Ethiopian cuisine. Highly recommend. I’ve even gifted it to multiple friends.
This book is a gem. It’s beautiful in presentation and a wonderfully easy tutorial on making all one’s favorites of Ethiopian cuisine. Highly recommend. I’ve even gifted it to multiple friends.
October 16, 2023
Cult Flav
Sarah
6
We made the One-Day Injera, Awaze and Shekla Tibs from this book and as someone who had never made injera before, I thought the 24hour turnaround was pretty easy!
Like pancakes the first few are always a little wonky but with a little trial and error, we had some pretty good results.
The ingredients are mostly easy to find and the timing from start to finish was a little over 90 minutes. The flavors didn't knock our socks off, but everything aside from the arake version of Awaze was well balanced and filling!
The arake verison of Awaze was just a little too bitter for the semi-spicy shekla tibs.
writing 6
accessibilility 6
flavour 6
value 6
June 9, 2023
I liked this book quite a bit. First, i found out I had been making Injira all wrong, so that was a great start. The stories and pictures are quite engaging. Covers quite a few types of food and recipes. Worthwhile
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews