One motherly lady, a pot of simmering stew, a ladle of love later, I became an Ethiopian food convert.

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In 2011, I published a post called: Anyone out there found yummy Ethiopian food?

In retrospect, it was terribly written post that I have torn off my blog and crumpled up with the frustration of a lovesick Romeo who lacks eloquent courting lingo to bedazzle his Juliet. Here’s how that Terrible Post began:

I’ve never been wild about Ethiopian food. Not when I tried it in Philadelphia for the first time, nor the second time, nor even the blithering third time. And definitely not when I attempted to order take-out from an Ethiopian place buried somewhere on Naif Road in Deira. What was I thinking…let alone unappetizing, my aluminium wrapped Ethiopian take-out actually seemed somewhat lethal.

The Terrible Post went on as follows:

Still, I wanted to give [unnamed restaurant] a chance. There’s always that tenth time that can totally change your opinion about something – and I’m ready for my tummy to take the hit those nine times prior.

The Terrible Post concluded with a bleak verdict:

This clearly was not that life-changing tenth time.

The reason that this was a Terrible Post was because at the time, (a) I based my experience on assorted platters of alien curries over a bed of spongy fermented injera bread. Mixed platters are ironically the worst way to learn about a foreign cuisine. All the flavours get muddled up, I’m too busy trying to guess what every dish is rather than knowing the names beforehand, and I end up walking away from the meal with the dishes I didn’t love dampening out the ones I did—all of it creating an experience of forgettable mediocrity. It’s the bumbling buffet phenomenon: taste a little of everything, walk away remembering nothing.

Ethiopian dinner - mixed platter

And (b) Ethiopian takeout of certain dishes is an incredibly stupid idea. Obviously, my one takeout experience had honed in on one of those Certain Dishes.

In 2012, my opinion dramatically changed. It happened when I accompanied a Dubai One TV shoot to Al Habasha, an Ethiopian restaurant in Abu Hail. I had visited Habasha once in the past, but as always, had not walked away with any memorable experience that left me inspired to blog. At the time of the TV shoot, the owner Sara was there to show us how to make Doro Watt — a hearty Ethiopian stew with chicken, eggs, a special sour-spicy berbere spice mix, and nitter kibbeh, a spiced butter. Here’s the video link (which my rebellious blog is refusing to let me embed in here) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwkpRhhMEfM&feature=youtu.be – forward it up to 1:16:00 to watch Sara in action.

It was over the tangy aroma wafting up from the pot of fresh Doro Watt that I finally started soaking in flavours that up until that time, had been completely alien to me. Watching Sara make the stew using her mother’s recipe somehow connected me to it in a way that I just couldn’t when I tried to sample the food alone. The latter is like visiting China, making the wrong food choices or even a few good ones, all of which eventually languish in a sea of anonymity that quickly washes mealtime memories out of your mind.

Doro Watt - Habasha Restaurant - Ethiopian Food Dubai

Doro Watt at Al Habasha

The experience with Sara made me understand, value, and taste the food in a way that my taste buds couldn’t process earlier. For instance, injera, whose rag-like appearance never struck me as appetizing in the past, suddenly became the perfect spongy complement with which to sop up the curry. The strong fermented taste of this teff flour bread is an acquired one, but one that was easily acquired after I found the perfect stew to soak up its hive-like pores.

Injera with Ethiopian style stew and meat - Habasha Restaurant - Ethiopian Food Dubai

Doro Watt, Lamb Ribs, and Injera at Habasha

This was finally that life-changing moment when I’d start appreciating Ethiopian cuisine.

I reckon that much of it is the Grandmother Effect. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say: I despise my grandmother’s cooking. Yet I find it hard to believe that every lady two generations ago was a fabulous cook. There’s just something about knowing the person who’s making the food, seeing them go that extra mile to serve you with love, that makes the flavours more accessible, memorable, and strangely, more tasty. If the heart falls in love with what’s being served, it’s likely that your stomach will too.

A few days ago, I enjoyed a lamb version of the stew (Yebeg Key Wot) at the Abesinian Restaurant in Deira. Once again, the combination of sour, spicy and fermented just hit a spot that didn’t even exist up until last year.

Yebeg Ke Wot - Abesinian Restaurant - Ethiopian Food Deira Dubai

Yebeg Key Wot, Abesinian Restaurant

Tender chunks of bone-in lamb immersed in this absolutely addictive berbere curry laced with the distinct buttery flavours of nitter kibbeh. The meat was plump with curry juices, and I snatched the bone marrow, reserving the tender innards for my own selfish pleasure. Every time the spice level turned my wimp taps on, I turned them back off with nibbles of aib, the fresh cottage cheese served alongside to extinguish the flames.

I couldn’t stop eating, to the point where when I stood up, I literally had to hang down like a bent-over spineless scarecrow – a very fat scarecrow – that just didn’t have the will to move an inch.

Even the kara mara tibs made me grab for second rounds. The dish was chock full of meaty strips—lamb? beef?—that had been charred beyond recognition. These cousins of jerky were drumming the beats of potent green chillies, stolen from the slit whole chillies scattered menacingly across the dish. Had the chillies been chopped finely, I’d have run miles from the dish. But leaving them whole imparted their sharp, nostril-tickling aroma to the dish, thankfully without the scorching bite.

Kara Mara Tibs  - Abesinian Restaurant - Ethiopian Food Deira Dubai

Kara Mara Tibs, Abesinian Restaurant

We left Abesinian on a more-than-satisfied note. Each of the dishes were flavourful in their own way (though the Yebeg Key Wot won my heart), and once again, I had connected with the lady of the restaurant who patiently explained every dish and even left my friend with a little tub of teff grain so that he could attempt to grow it at home.

I don’t for a second believe that only the taste buds do the tasting. There’s a lot more that goes on—it has as much to do with smell, texture, the weather outside, childhood memories…as it does with the verdict passed by your taste buds. Most importantly, the hand serving the dish holds the power to make food accessible, and even magical in ways that Sara did for me. Ferran Adria, the man behind the now-closed El Bulli, Spain, said it best:

I say all the time that [my mother’s Spanish potato and egg tortilla] is my favourite because it conveys a point: that sentimental value comes above all else.

(Source: P6, The Flavor Bible)

Al Habasha Restaurant
Multiple Branches, but I visit the one in Abu Hail which I’ve plotted on my trusty Google map.
Phone: +971 (4) 266 7358
Website with helpful menu descriptions and a talking lady: http://www.alhabasharestaurant.com

Abesinian Restaurant
Thanks to Dileep Cherian who visited the restaurant and so sent me a photo of their business card and map [BROWNIE POINTS TO YOU BOY!!], we’re now not so directionless when it comes to locating this hidden restaurant. His tip to finding the place: “It’s on Somali Street, the lane behind Mashreq Bank. It’s on the same road as Al Noor Hotel. ” You rock Dileep, if I could build you a castle of injera to show my appreciation, I totally would.

Abyssinia 1

Abyssinia 2

Author: InaFryingPan

With a family legacy of ingenious cooks, a nutritionist and chef-extraordinaire mother, and a father who introduced me to steak and caviar when I could barely reach the table, I had no choice but to acquire a keen awareness of food during my childhood years in Dubai. But it was only after I found myself on a college campus in Philadelphia – far away from home, too cheap as a student to spend on anything other than pizza, and with dorm rooms that had little rat-holes of kitchens if they even had them at all – when I developed a heightened appreciation of food. An appreciation of food that I once ate every night at the dinner table in Dubai, but that was now an entire ocean away. I lusted for the culinary treasures that lay outside the stale walls of my college dining hall, hijacked friends’ kitchens to try my hand at something, anything , remotely edible, and greedily raided different websites in search of highly-rated restaurants. With my move to New York to work for a consulting firm that secretly harbored self-professed foodies, my appreciation transformed into a passion, an addicition. I felt like everyone around me in New York was talking about food: where to get the best cupcakes, pizza slices, banh mi, kati rolls, pho, fried chicken, and every other food item out there that is just a plain old dish in some part of the world, but that’s become hyped to unforeseen proportions in New York. What fuelled my addiction over time was travel to different cities, both for work and play, which gave me unfettered access to the culinary havens of not only New York, but also of DC, Virginia, Chicago, Houston, Vegas, Austin, Seattle and even a little city called Bentonville (Arkansas!). After 9 years away from home, I’ve finally taken the leap to come back to Dubai – with not just an awareness, but genuine appreciation and passionate addiction for what I’d taken for granted as a child. Mom, I’m back to reclaim my seat at your dinner table, and to rediscover this city with its ever-expanding menu of international flavors.

10 thoughts on “One motherly lady, a pot of simmering stew, a ladle of love later, I became an Ethiopian food convert.

  1. Sarah Walton says:

    I have now given up reading cook books. YOU are my authority on MENA cuisine – not only do you find things I would never taste, but you even show me where to find it. Thanks for everything xx

    Reply
    1. inafryingpan says:

      @facebook-1541171401:disqus – I’m speechless. Grateful. Blown away. In disbelief (I’m no authority, still very much a student and explorer!). Thank YOU for the sweet words. Now I’m going to go find my humility hat…I know its stashed away somewhere…

  2. gingerandscotch says:

    You’ve certainly gone through a transcendent culinary experience! It took my husband (Scotch) a few years of trying pungent Chinese dishes before he finally began to appreciate the cuisine at its best. I’m glad you found finally found your appreciation of Ethiopian food – I have only been to Abesinian and loved everything I tried there.

    Reply
    1. inafryingpan says:

      @gingerandscotch:disqus – yes, it took a long, long time for me to appreciate the food. But it’s finally happened, and now the love for the cuisine is here to stay!

  3. IshitaUnblogged says:

    Sizzler, I’m so happy to read this post… you are in your elements. Am glad that your sleeping beauty blog is awake. I can only say that your writing is so, so, so incredibly sensitive and detailed, that sometimes I start to think food from your post’s perspective. Giving a chance to an unappetizing looking Injera… I have a lot of catching up to do on the food tasting front. Good wishes to you, always.

    Reply
    1. inafryingpan says:

      @ishitaunblogged:disqus – thanks for the thoughtful message and positive vibes Ishita! You’re so supportive, thank you. :)

  4. Sally Prosser says:

    I think disqus wiped my last comment. So sorry short second one – thanks for introducing me to cuisines I know nothing about. A friend ordered Ethiopian food for a party and she hated it, which I always thought strange given large community here.

    Reply
    1. inafryingpan says:

      @google-e765094276c1ae4f8a701898fc8a87f4:disqus – Sorry to hear about your friend’s experience. Wonder if it was a massive takeout thing, or had they actually had it cooked and served at the party itself? Either way, it’s worth going to one of these two places to try!

  5. Shannon says:

    I just tried Ethiopian food for the first time ever while visiting San Francisco last week. We got the family-style, gigantic injera bread (serving three people) covered in different types of stew and a little salad (with extra bread for dipping), and I have to say that it was mind-blowing stuff. Maybe the mix of those different stews isn’t always great; perhaps we lucked into an amazing restaurant, but I definitely love the concept. In any event, I’m moving to AD in the fall, and I’m sure I will be in Dubai fairly frequently (taking one of your tours, of course!), so this article makes me very happy to know that great Ethiopian food exists there. :-)

    Reply
  6. Foodie Bugi says:

    This is our next stop… our driver is stilll tryinng to figure out directions. :D

    Reply

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