Ethiopia

Berbere is a spice mixture whose constituent elements usually include chili peppers, coriander, garlic, ginger, Ethiopian holy basil (besobela) seeds, korarima, rue, ajwain or radhuni, nigella, and fenugreek. It is a key ingredient in the cuisines of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Berbere also refers to chili pepper itself. Berbere sometimes encompasses herbs and spices that are less well known internationally. These include both cultivated plants and those that grow wild in Ethiopia, such as korarima (Aframomum corrorima).

Chickpea or fava bean dip or spread, made with onion, chili peppers, garlic, mustard, lemon juice

No-bake snack made with roasted barley flour and clarified butter

Cyperus esculentus is a species of plant in the sedge family widespread across much of the world. It is found in most of the Eastern Hemisphere, including Southern Europe, Africa and Madagascar, as well as the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. C. esculentus is cultivated for its edible tubers, called earth almonds or tiger nuts (due to the stripes on their tubers and their hard shell), as a snack food and for the preparation of horchata de chufa, a sweet, milk-like beverage. Cyperus esculentus can be found wild, as a weed, or as a crop. It is an invasive species outside its native range, and is readily transported accidentally to become invasive. In many countries, C. esculentus is considered a weed. It is often found in wet soils such as rice paddies and peanut farms as well as well-irrigated lawns and golf courses during warm weather.

Loaf bread, traditionally cooked inside false banana leaves in a large pot over a fire, made with wheat flour, barley, teff, sorgum, millet, several different types

Small pieces of baked or fried dough, made with berbere spices, sugar, eaten as a snack

Ensete is a genus of monocarpic flowering plants native to tropical regions of Africa and Asia. It is one of the three genera in the banana family, Musaceae, and includes the false banana or enset , an economically important food crop in Ethiopia. The genus Ensete was first described by Paul Fedorowitsch Horaninow (or Horaninov, 1796–1865) in his Prodromus Monographiae Scitaminarum of 1862 in which he created a single species, Ensete edule. However, the genus did not receive general recognition until 1947 when it was revived by E. E. Cheesman in the first of a series of papers in the Kew Bulletin on the classification of the bananas, with a total of 25 species.

In Mandaeism, faṭira is a small, round, saltless, half-baked biscuit. Faṭiras are used in rituals such as the Ṭabahata Masiqta, or the "masiqta of the Parents," during which they are served in ritual clay trays called ṭariana. The faṭira, which is saltless, is distinct from another type of sacramental bread known as the pihta, which contains salt to symbolize the souls of living people when used for living celebrants, but is saltless like the faṭira when used during masiqta (death mass) rituals. The ṣa (Classical Mandaic: ࡑࡀ), a rolled-up piece of sacramental flatbread that contains nuts and raisins, is also used in ritual meals for the dead and has a phallic symbolism. It is rolled up like a scroll.

A salad is a dish consisting of mixed ingredients, frequently vegetables. They are typically served chilled or at room temperature, though some can be served warm. Condiments and salad dressings, which exist in a variety of flavors, are used to make a salad. Garden salads use a base of leafy greens such as lettuce, arugula or rocket, kale or spinach; they are common enough that the word salad alone often refers specifically to garden salads. Other types include bean salad, tuna salad, bread salad , vegetable salads without leafy greens (such as Greek salad, potato salad, coleslaw), rice-, pasta- and noodle-based salads, fruit salads and desserts.

Himbasha or Ambasha (Amharic: አምባሻ), is an Ethiopian and Eritrean celebration bread that is slightly sweet. It became popular in Eritrean cuisine, often served at special occasions. It is prepared in a number of varieties depending on region and nationality with the main two being the quintessential Ethiopian variant, and the more distinctive Eritrean flavoring with raisins. The dough is given a decorative touch before baking. The design varies in detail, but in general, is given the shape of a wheel with indentations to create several spokes (see picture). Common additions to the recipe include candied orange, ginger, or ground cardamom seeds, although plain varieties are not unheard of.

Bore honey, Rira honey, Tigray white honey, Wenchi volcano honey

Injera is a sour fermented pancake-like flatbread with a slightly spongy texture, traditionally made of teff flour. In Ethiopia and Eritrea, injera is a staple. Injera is central to the dining process in Amhara community, like bread or rice elsewhere and is usually stored in the mesob. Traditionally, injera is made with just two ingredients: teff flour and water. Teff flour is ground from the grains of Eragrostis tef, also known as teff, a cereal crop from the Ethiopian Highlands. Teff production is limited to certain middle elevations with adequate rainfall and is a low-yield crop, so it is relatively expensive for the average farming household. Many farmers in the Ethiopian highlands grow their own subsistence grains, so wheat, barley, corn, or rice flour are sometimes used to replace the teff content. Teff seeds are graded according to color, used to make different kinds of injera: nech (white), key or quey (red), and sergegna (mixed). When teff is not available, injera is made by fermenting a variety of different grains, including barley, millet, and sorghum. Teff, however, is the preferred grain for making injera, primarily because of its sensory attributes (color, smell, taste). Teff flour is gluten-free. To make injera, teff flour is mixed with water. The fermentation process is started by adding ersho, a clear, yellow liquid that accumulates on the surface of fermenting teff flour batter and is collected from previous fermentations. The aerobic microbial flora of ersho contains spores of Bacillus species (unable to grow at the low pH of 3.5) and several yeasts (in order of abundance): Candida milleri, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, Kluyveromyces marxianus, Pichia naganishii and Debaromyces hansenii. The mixture is then allowed to ferment for an average of two to three days, giving it a mildly sour taste.

Fresh injera flatbread topped with a mixture of clarified butter, berbere spices, mitmita spices and salt

Beet salad with potatoes, onions and carrots in a lemon and oil dressing

kocha - A sauce or paste made from green chili peppers and spices

Kocho is a bread-like fermented food made from chopped and grated ensete pulp. The pseudo-stem of the ensete plant contains a pith that is collected, pulped, and mixed with yeast before being fermented for three months to two years. It is used as a staple in Ethiopian cuisine in place of or alongside injera. In 1975 more than one-sixth of Ethiopians depended completely or partially on kocho for a substantial part of their food. It is eaten with foods such as kitfo, gomen (cooked greens), and ayibe (cheese). The stem is pounded to extract the pulp, which is then fermented for several weeks before being cooked. Kocho is often served with stews and is a staple food in some parts of Ethiopia. It has a sour taste and a dense, dough-like texture. It is made from the scraped leaf sheath fibre and pulverised corm of the enset plant. Kocho can be stored underground from three months to twelve months, making it a ready source of nutrition during periods of food scarcity. Kocho is typically used as a utensil to scoop up other foods. 5. ^ https://rippleeffect.org/blog/ethiopian-enset-feast 6. ^ https://ethiopianfood.wordpress.com/2011/06/10/catching-up-with-qocho/

Spiced roasted barley, a snack, the barley may also be mixed with peanuts, chickpeas, seeds and nuts

Made with black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, cumin, cloves, nutmeg, long pepper, used with wot, alicha, stews

Spice mix made with chickpea and pea flour and spices such as berbere, garlic, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, bishop's weed

Mitmita is a powdered seasoning mix used in Ethiopia. It is orange-red in color and contains ground African bird's eye chili peppers, Ethiopian cardamom (korerima), cloves, and salt. It occasionally has other spices including cinnamon, cumin, and ginger. The mixture is used to season the raw beef dish kitfo and may also be sprinkled on ful medames (fava beans). In addition, mitmita may be presented as a condiment and sprinkled on other dishes or spooned onto a piece of injera, so that morsels may be lightly dipped into it. It is generally made from hot peppers that are stronger than those used in berbere, the other main spice in Ethiopian cuisine.

Boiled and salted mix of wheat and chickpeas

Niter kibbeh, or niter qibe , also called tesmi (in Tigrinya), is a seasoned, clarified butter used in Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine. Its preparation is similar to that of ghee, but niter kibbeh is simmered with spices such as besobela (known as Ethiopian sacred basil), koseret, fenugreek, cumin, coriander, turmeric, Ethiopian cardamom (korarima), cinnamon, or nutmeg before straining, imparting a distinct, spicy aroma. The version using vegetable oil instead of butter is called yeqimem zeyet.

Popcorn is a variety of corn kernel which expands and puffs up when heated; the same names also refer to the foodstuff produced by the expansion. A popcorn kernel's strong hull contains the seed's hard, starchy shell endosperm with 14–20% moisture, which turns to steam as the kernel is heated. Pressure from the steam continues to build until the hull ruptures, allowing the kernel to forcefully expand, to 20 to 50 times its original size, and then cool.

Spiced beef jerky

A samosa (listenⓘ) from the Persian word Sambosag (سنبوسگ) (Meaning triangular pastry) is a fried South Asian and West Asian snack. It is a pastry with a savory filling, mostly vegetables, spiced potatoes, onions, peas, also non-vegetarian meat, or fish. It is made into different shapes, including triangular, cone, or crescent, depending on the region. Samosas are often accompanied by chutney, and have origins in medieval times or earlier. Sweet versions are also made. Samosas are a popular entrée, appetizer, or snack in the cuisines of South Asia, West Asia, Central Asia, East Africa and their South Asian diasporas. The English word samosa derives from the Hindustani word samosa (Urdu: سموسہ, Hindi: समोसा), traceable to the Middle Persian word sanbosag (سنبوسگ) 'triangular pastry'. Similar pastries are called sambusak in Arabic; medieval Arabic recipe books sometimes spell it sambusaj, which are all borrowed from Persian sanbosag.

Tihlo is a dish from the historical Agame province in Tigray that consists of barley dough balls covered with meat and berbere based sauce often served as a snack. Tihlo is commonly consumed as a side dish or snack, especially in Tigrayan communities. The barley grain is completely dehulled and milled. Tihlo is made using moistened roasted barley flour that is kneaded to a uniform consistency. The dough is then broken into small balls and laid out around a bowl of spicy meat stew. A two-pronged wooden fork known as a Shint’ar (Tigrinya: ሽንጣር) is used to spear the ball and dip it into the stew. Tihlo is commonly served on cultural holidays.

Spicy chopped tomato and vegetable salad, made either with broken up pieces of injera or without injera

Fermented beef sausage made with spices, garlic, onion, salt, popular at celebrations and marriage feasts