Food Is Love In Ethiopia

Ethiopian cuisine celebrates the joy of eating in endearing ways. Vikas Plakkot finds himself travelling back in time on a culinary journey through the African country.

- Vikas Plakkot

Perched on a low wooden stool inside a restaurant in the northern Ethiopian town of Axum, I’m enthralled by the eskista performance unravelling in front of me. It features intense shoulder movements synced with folk tunes. In the foreground, a well-dressed man digs into a large plate of food to tear offa portion of grey flatbread, rolls it in meat stew, and feeds his partner. As she gobbles it down, a smile spreads across her face. This act of feeding someone with your hands is called gursha, a way of expressing love in Ethiopia, and it’s no surprise that it features food.

In Ethiopia, eating is an art form, a communal exercise whose centrepiece is the large sourdough bread injera. The pancake lookalike is made of teff, the planet’s smallest grain, which Ethiopians have grown for eons. Spread around the large injera are a host of dishes ranging from spicy curries to leafy greens. I spy minced meat, a large chilli with kachumbari filling, a chickpea stew, and even some roasted lamb. Shunning all notions of restaurant etiquette, I shove my hands into the platter, invoking the Malayali in me. The dishes vanish in swift succession, as I call for more injera to wipe out the remaining veggies.

That’s all it takes to relish a meal in this country—a well-made injera, good company, and soiled hands.

OH SO SPICY!

On my very first afternoon in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s unassuming capital, I make my way to the 2000 Habesha Cultural Restaurant. This widely recognised outlet serves all the classic Ethiopian dishes, accompanied by sheesha, black coffee, and soulful local music.