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Exploring Ethiopian Spices
One of the cool things about moving is discovering the new ingredients that are locally available. So far, we've discovered a variety of Caribbean and Latin American groceries and an amazing Asian grocery (the infamous H-Mart, which would be perfect if it actually carried fermented black beans).
Image by VirtualErnThe other day, I found Sheger International Market, a tiny Ethiopian place a few blocks away. I picked up some injera - a spongy pancake-like sourdough flatbread made from teff flour - while I was there, because it was something I thought Angela would like. (She did.) What caught my attention, though, were the shelves of small plastic containers filled with a variety of spices and things. Few of them I recognized. There was plenty of berbere and some green coffee beans, but other than that... well... it looks like I have a lot of research and experimentation to do. I suspect several of these things are spices that I know of under another name, so if anyone has a good resource for Ethiopian spice names, please share.
Sounds like a disease, not a spice.
You'd like it, though.
What does it taste like? Maybe I need to find an Ethiopian restaurant here.
When you're next down here, we'll get you some.
Guess I need to find a time to head down to DC then!
I'd recommend "The Soul of a New Cuisine" by Marcus Samuelsson. I don't remember if it had alternate/foreign names for things, but it has a lot of recipes that use African spices and spice blends. It even has recipes to make your own berbere, injera, and others.
Thanks! I'll check it out.