The Ethiopian Brunch

 

Ethiopia, located in the Horn of Africa, is as ancient as the emergence of Homo sapiens and has been a country of diverse ethnicities, languages, and cultures for millennia. Its cultural and political history dates back to the D’mt Kingdom in the 8-6thC BC and the Aksumite Kingdom in the 1-6thC AD. While it has been in contact with distant civilizations and cultures since ancient times, it also has a unique geo-political history in the African continent having avoided European imperialism during the late 19thC and early 20thC. All of this means a certain Ethiopian cultural integrity and continuity over the centuries which includes four major languages, over 80 dialects, the indigenous script Ge’ez/Ethiopic and - a singular culinary wonder. 

Central to the typical Ethiopian cuisine is injera which is a spongy sourdough flatbread made from teff, a grain indigenous to Ethiopia and Eritrea. Teff is the world’s tiniest grain and a nutrition powerhouse due to its high protein and fibre content. It’s also gluten-free. Beyond the injera, the Ethiopian cuisine gets its distinctive flavour and aroma from various spice blends made through complex, intricate processes – a tradition that has been passed down through many generations. 

Food is a communal affair in Ethiopia where people gather around a large shared plate, the mesob, and it is eaten by hand. Injera is laid on the mesob followed by stew and veggie toppings. The injera serves both as a serving plate and a utensil; the injera is torn by hand and used to scoop up the toppings. A well-made injera has many “eyes”, tiny holes that form on the surface of the injera batter as it is cooked on a hot griddle, while the bottom surface stays smooth. The spongy-ness of the injera and its many “eyes” make it an ideal “utensil” to scoop up and retain the saucy stews. 

That food is eaten by hand and shared around the mesob brings a natural intimacy to meal times. More intimate is the practice of gursha: this is where family members, friends, or a lover and a beloved take turns in feeding one another – again – by hand.  

While Toronto has a large Ethiopian community and a robust Ethiopian food scene (albeit it being atomized and limited to a couple of neighbourhoods), foods that are typically eaten for breakfast and brunch are not commonly found in the city. And this is where I come in...

I'll be bringing and shedding light to the lesser-known breakfast/brunch dishes of Ethiopia at the Depanneur (A Place Where Interesting Food Things Happen).