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Food Options
Home to the African Union, various United Nations offices, and countless foreign NGOs, Addis Ababa is very much an international city and visitors can enjoy all types of cuisine. Outside of the capital, your food options are more limited. The major tourist destinations usually have good - some very good - western fare, but in the more remote areas, injera with various meat, vegetables, and "wot" will be your primary option. Various pasta dishes are also widely available.
Bottled mineral water, sparkling and still, is available throughout the country. In most towns an assortment of fresh-squeezed juices or smoothies are available. Home to a surprising number of breweries, Ethiopia boasts some very good beers. Ethiopian wine is sweet for many foreigners' taste, but if you enjoy a drink now and then, you should definitely try "tej," a, home-made honey wine found throughout the country. |
Injera and Wot
Most Ethiopian food is served alongside injera, the staple food of the country. Injera is a flat, soft, and spongy bread. It can be made with different types of grains and therefore comes in a few different flavors and colors. Generally, it has a tangy, almost sour taste, but the flavor is not overpowering at all. Usually, a few different wots will be served with injera. The wot is the traditional dish of Ethiopia and are mixtures of vegetables, meats, spices and sauces. Usually, wots are spicy, but there is an extraordinary variety including non-spicy options. Wots are served on top of injera - the bread will be rolled out into a sheet with the wots placed directly on it; the injera acts simultaneously as a plate and a utensil. |
Mealtime Etiquette
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"Ful"
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"Doro Wot"
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"Fasting Food"
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"Gored-gored"
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Coffee or "Buna"
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"Tibs"
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Fresh Juice
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"Fetira"
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Ethiopian coffee is legendary in reputation and tradition. According to folklore, it was discovered by an Ethiopian goat-herder named Kaldi, who noticed that when his goats ate the berries of a certain bush, they became more energetic. This prompted Kaldi to test out the beans himself, and when he felt the vitality that the beans gave him, he instantly knew that he had made an important discovery.
Today, coffee beans are one of the major exports of Ethiopia - constituting around 30% of Ethiopia’s annual export revenue. Almost 1/4 of the population depends on the coffee trade as its source of income. Farmers have cultivated coffee using the same methods for hundreds of years and the work is still done almost exclusively by hand. Ethiopia grows a few different of varieties of coffee: Sidamo, Harar, Limu, and Yirgacheffe, all named after the region where they are grown. |