How to make Berbere. This spice blend is the most essential used in Ethiopian cuisine. It’s a great addition to help spice up any ordinary dish and take it to the extraordinary!
Category: East African Cuisine and Recipes
The cuisine of East Africa varies from area to area. In the inland savannah, the traditional cuisine of cattle-keeping peoples is distinctive in that meat products are generally absent. Cattle, sheep and goats were regarded as a form of currency and a store of wealth, and are not generally consumed as food. In some areas, traditional peoples consume the milk and blood of cattle, but rarely the meat. Elsewhere, other peoples are farmers who grow a variety of grains and vegetables. Maize (corn) is the basis of ugali, the East African version of West Africa's fufu. Ugali is a starch dish eaten with meats or stews. In Uganda, steamed, green bananas called matoke provide the starch filler of many meals.
Berbere Spice Paste
This fiery spice mixture that forms the basis of many Ethiopian and Eritrean recipes. You can use either this paste or the dry spice blend as a rub.
East African Cuisine
The cuisine of East Africa varies from area to area. In the inland savannah, the traditional cuisine of cattle-keeping peoples is distinctive in that meat products are generally absent. Cattle, sheep and goats were regarded as a form of currency and a store of wealth, and are not generally consumed as food.
Ethiopian Cuisine
Ethiopian cuisine characteristically consists of vegetable and often very spicy meat dishes, usually in the form of wat (also w’et or wot), a thick stew, served atop injera, a large sourdough flatbread, which is about 50 centimetres in diameter and made out of fermented teff flour.
Injera – Ethiopian Flat Bread
Injera, sometimes transliterated enjera; is a yeast-risen flatbread with a unique, slightly spongy texture. Traditionally made out of teff flour, it is a national dish in Ethiopia and Eritrea. A similar variant is eaten in Somalia (where it is called canjeelo or lahooh) and Yemen (where it is known as lahoh).
Kachumbari – Tomato, Onion, and Chilli Salad
Kachumbari is a fresh tomato and onion salad dish that is popular in the cuisines of the African Great Lakes region. It is an uncooked salad dish consisting of chopped tomatoes, onions, and chilli peppers (and salt to taste).
Kashata Za Nazi – Swahili Coconut Snacks
Kashata is a traditional East African recipe for a classic snack of coconut, flavoured with cinnamon and cardamom and bound with flour and sugar that is half way between a biscuit and confectionery.
Mandazi – African Doughnuts
Mandazi is similar to doughnuts, having a little bit of a sweet taste which can be differentiated with the addition of different ingredients. However; they are typically less sweet than the Australian style of doughnuts and are served without any glazing or frosting.
Matoke – Ugandan Beef and Plantain Stew
Matoke is one of the traditional main dishes in Uganda and can be made with or with the meat.
Somali Cuisine
Somali cuisine varies from region to region and is a fusion of different Somali culinary traditions, with some East African, Arab, Ethiopian, Yemeni, Persian, Turkish, Indian, and Italian influences. It is the product of Somalia’s tradition of trade and commerce. Some notable Somali delicacies include sabayad, lahoh/injera, halva, sambuusa, basbousa, and ful medames.