That Red Sea meal is a fond memory for me as it was my first venture into very exotic food for me and my mother (your Gram). Beautifully written article. I learned so much.
I've always enjoyed Lalibela and Addis. This weekend my parents were craving Ethiopian so I shared this post and they asked to try Habesha. I can't claim to have nearly your experience with Ethiopian food but we were so happy with our dinner there! We got the vegetarian sampler, the awaze tibs, and the zilzil tibs. I'd definitely order the first two again. The zilzil tibs were a bit chewy for my preference. Our meal came with this hot sauce that surprised me - it was quite mustard-forward (I think?) and I loved it.
Oh that's great to hear about Habesha! I'm pretty sure we've been there and found it to be great food but slow service, however this was years ago. I'm guessing the sauce you had was awaze, an Ethiopian hot sauce. There are different versions, but it often includes berbere (chile blend), niter kibbeh (spiced clarified butter) and sometimes t’ej (honey wine).
Great explainer for those of us who love Ethiopian food (but aren’t always sure of what we’re digging into)! Thanks!
That Red Sea meal is a fond memory for me as it was my first venture into very exotic food for me and my mother (your Gram). Beautifully written article. I learned so much.
Aw, shucks, thanks mom!
What an excellent, well-written article!! I am terribly hungry now for Ethiopian food!! Thanks for all these fabulous tips!!
Thanks, big sis!
Thank you for educating me on Ethiopian cuisine I now look forward to trying it.
You're so welcome, Kelly! Thank you for reading.
I've always enjoyed Lalibela and Addis. This weekend my parents were craving Ethiopian so I shared this post and they asked to try Habesha. I can't claim to have nearly your experience with Ethiopian food but we were so happy with our dinner there! We got the vegetarian sampler, the awaze tibs, and the zilzil tibs. I'd definitely order the first two again. The zilzil tibs were a bit chewy for my preference. Our meal came with this hot sauce that surprised me - it was quite mustard-forward (I think?) and I loved it.
Oh that's great to hear about Habesha! I'm pretty sure we've been there and found it to be great food but slow service, however this was years ago. I'm guessing the sauce you had was awaze, an Ethiopian hot sauce. There are different versions, but it often includes berbere (chile blend), niter kibbeh (spiced clarified butter) and sometimes t’ej (honey wine).
Fwiw the food came pretty quickly this time. Thanks for the hot sauce info!