Ethiopia
Unique among African countries, the ancient Ethiopian monarchy maintained its freedom from colonial rule, one exception being the Italian occupation of 1936-41. In 1974 a military junta, the Derg, deposed Emperor Haile SELASSIE (who had ruled since 1930) and established a socialist state. Torn by bloody coups, uprisings, wide-scale drought, and massive refugee problems, the regime was finally toppled by a coalition of rebel forces, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), in 1991. A constitution was adopted in 1994 and Ethiopia’s first multiparty elections were held in 1995. A two and a half year border war with Eritrea ended with a peace treaty on 12 December 2000. Final demarcation of the boundary is currently on hold due to Ethiopian objections to an international commission’s finding requiring it to surrender sensitive territory.

Dining in Ethiopia is characterized by the ritual of breaking “injera” and sharing food from a common plate, signifying the bonds of loyalty and friendship. The traditional way of eating is with fingers. “Injera” is placed on the plate with variety of dishes decoratively arranged around it. A small portion of “Injera” is torn off and wrapped around a mouthful of the selected dish.

“Injera”, our staple bread, is a flat bread made of “Teff”, a fine grain unique to Ethiopia. “Wot” is dipping sauce which maybe prepared using a variety of meats, fish, and vegetables. “Wot” is cooked with “Berbere” (Ethiopian seasoning prepared from matured red chili pepper and other exotic spices) which may range from very mild to spicy hot. “Alitcha” is more mildly spiced dipping sauce prepared with a variety of meats or vegetables.

Ethiopian dishes are prepared with a distinctive variety of unique spices for an unforgettably striking dimension to exotic cookery. To help you make the best of choice for this truly different and exciting dinning experience we offer the following descriptions:

Berbere : A popular Ethiopian seasoning prepared from red chili peppers, garlic, & other spice. Berbere is sun-dried then mixed with more spices & used in wots.

Nitir Kibe : Another Ethiopian basic, Nitir Kibe is pure clarified butter seasoned with several condiments and used in traditional sauteing.

Kaey Wot : A lively sauce prepared with berbere, nitir kibe & meat, fish or legumes.

Alitcha : A delicately mild sauce made from meat, legumes or beans with garlic, ginger and Ird.

Mitmita : Bird’s eye red pepper spiced with cardamom & salt, usually served with Kitfo.

埃塞俄比亚的餐食实质上只有一种食品——Injera,它是一种由发酵谷物所做的面包，看起来有点像泡沫乳胶，食用时加上wat——一种味道很浓的咖喱酱 或松软白干酪。Tej是一种发酵的蜂蜜饮料，常同Injera一起食用。这里的咖啡很好，是该国的主要出口产品之一。

埃塞俄比亚产的葡萄酒、啤酒和白兰地都很棒，价格也不贵。当地人喝的主要是Talla——一种由大麦和燕麦酿造的酒。
在埃塞俄比亚，吃饭不用桌子，而是围坐在一个用芦苇编成的大篓子周围。若有客人来，常在“英杰拉”大饼上盖一块红布，篓子旁边放一个同样盖着红布的陶瓷罐子，罐里放有“瓦特“，表示欢迎之情。

埃塞俄比亚人不爱吃生牛肉，把刚宰杀的带热气的牛里脊或其他部位的嫩肉切割成薄片吃。每逢节日、庆典仪式或婚嫁喜事，都习惯吃生牛肉以示庆贺。他们还 有用生牛肉待客有的传统习惯，客人对这种盛情款待是不能推辞的。埃塞俄比亚有很多肉店和饭店，专门供应生吃的新鲜牛肉。

References:

http://themenupage.com/ethiopiarestaurant.html

http://themenupage.com/ethiopiarestaurant.html