Cooking with Ethiopian Spices
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Life is still largely pastoral in Ethiopia. Small-scale food production dominates the country's agriculture. Ethiopian gastronomy is a lesson in vegetarian cooking with a large number of starches at its core: lentils, millet ("t'ef" in Ethiopian), split peas ... Meat when eaten (usually beef, chicken, goat or lamb) is always served in a stew ( "Wat" in Ethiopian).
The staple of their diet is the t'ef (or teff). This millet flour is the prime ingredient for making the injera: a sourdough-risen flatbread that not only functions as a dish to serve meals on, but also as a spoon to scoop up sauces and dishes. Indeed, in Ethiopia, the meal is always made up of a large single dish placed on a coffee table from which with the right hand only everyone carves out bite-size morsels using small pieces of injera.
The other essential ingredient is the famous Berber blend: a mixture consisting mainly of hot pepper, cardamom and other endemic spices. It is sprinkled on stews or mixed with oil and Tej (Ethiopian mead) to form a dough called "awaze" which is the foundation for several marinades. The Awaze is also used as a condiment per se much in the same way that harrissa in North Africa or the purée of Espelette pepper in the Basque Country are used.
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RECIPE OF DORO WAT (BERBER CHICKEN STEW WITH HARD BOILED EGGS)
Ingredients :
- 4 whole chicken legs - 3 onions and 3 sliced shallots - 5 garlic cloves - 4 hard boiled eggs - 1 piece of fresh grated ginger - 2 tablespoons of Berber (or one for a dish a little less spicy!) - 2 diced tomatoes - 120 grams of tomato concentrate - 1 lemon - 15 centiliters of water - 4 tablespoons of olive oil - Salt - PepperPreparation :
- Put the chicken legs in a bowl then add water, lemon juice and season.
- Marinate for 20 minutes in the fridge.
- Brush the chicken and brown it in a greased pan for about 5 minutes over medium heat.
- Add onions and shallots, cover and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes and the tomato concentrate.
- Cover and simmer for another 15 minutes. Now add the ginger, garlic, and berber blend and season to taste.
- Cover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Finally add the hard-boiled eggs and dip them in the sauce.
- Simmer for still another 10 minutes.
- Serve with pan-fried spinach, a stew of berber lentils (Yemisir kik wat), fresh diced tomatoes, all harmoniously distributed on the injera.
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How to use ethiopian spices ?
Berber Blend
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Packing heat, this blend is perfect on roasted or grilled meats. You can also use it to prepare "spaghetti zigni" with hot sauce. Mix it with a little water and oil and your spicy Ethiopian paste will enliven all your dishes!
Korarima
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The black seeds inside the pod release a fruity and balsamic fragrance that blends beautifully with a braised beef or grilled mullet filet. Its aromas of roasted resin and herbs harmonize perfectly with cold meats like a terrine (meat loaf) of poultry liver or a sweetbread.
Timiz
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Timiz pepper delivers an intense aroma of tobacco and resin. It will match perfectly with a terrine of poultry liver, with a creamy soft cheese yogurt (fromage frais) drizzled in olive oil and topped by fresh herbs, or even with a bitter chocolate dessert.
Passion Berries
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The fruity and vegetal aroma of this berry is reminiscent of passion fruit. Grind and sprinkle just before serving a roasted fish or a pan-fried vegetable. Infuse it in cream for poultry sauce or a caramelized pear pie.
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Our Ethiopian products at the shop :
Korarima
Timiz pepper
Passion berry
Mit Mita
Berbere Mix
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