Tuesday, May 3, 2011

The Ethiopian Egg


Ethiopian food is one of the kickass things I learned existed when I moved out of the Land of Chili and took up residence in DC. I'll admit it's not for everyone, though...you have to eat with your hands, which is pretty f'n gross sometimes, but I don't mind when Ethiopian food is on the table for some reason. Another case of situational ethics, I guess.

Another issue is that you'll get some food served up that you really have no idea what it is. My best advice is to grab a double handful when that happens. Just dive in and own it. I think I've eaten some animal's stomach more than once, and that ish was outstanding. Had I known it was stomach, I would not have gone forward with the eating.

One thing I always recognize, though: The Egg. For some reason, if you get one of the group platter meal things (just a shitload of food on one big tray, so multiple sets of hands can be a-grabbin'), they 'garnish' it with a gigantic hard-boiled egg. The egg is covered in all kinds of spices and sauces, and even though it's probably an Ostrich egg or something, I'm always pumped about eating that thing.

I usually have very little competition from the other diners, which rules. I'm happier when I don't have to share.

3 comments:

Tami said...

this is what i miss the most about dc (and you of course!). :)

A, E, e, a said...

i just love it that you'll eat mysterious Ethiopian food with two hands, but a baked talapia causes you to twitch and sweat... AND it's great that this is the 2nd post with 'egg photography pushing the envelope...'!

tem said...

I found the egg a little weird--the other stuff was great!