Q: I love browsing the Ethiopian grocery stores near my house but I often come away empty handed or with a random tub of lentils, dried beans, or a little berbere. All of them have bulk items in tubs with labels only in Amharic and the grocers don't know the translations into English.
I don't mind experimenting with things but it would be nice to know what I'm buying and what I'm missing. Is there a website or book where I can find pictures of ingredients? If there is one with lists of ingredients by region or specific type of ethnic cuisine that would be even better. — Sent by Kerry
Editor: Kerry, we don't know specifically of a book with a guide to Ethiopian or East African ingredients -- surely there is something like that out there though! This book looked interesting and perhaps helpful:
• Exotic Ethiopian Cooking : Sociey, Culture, Hospitality, and Traditions
Also, check out Sarah Rae's great ideas for learning how to shop in unfamiliar ethnic markets. We would also suggest seeing if you can set up a market tour with an Ethiopian friend or acquaintance; that's really the best way to learn!
Readers, do you know of any good guides or resources for Ethiopian cooking?
Related: 5 Tips On Finding The Best Products At Ethnic Markets
(Image: Steenburgs Organic)
first off... I'm so jealous that you live near an ethiopean market! Being in the NY metro area (but the suburbs), I have several ethnic sources, but generally, it's of larger immigrant populations (indo/pak, chinese, persian).
While indian stores have everything written in proper british english (pulses, pulses everywhere!), I do have similar problems in our persian grocery store.
What I do to help navigate the isles is become very familiar with the look of all the ingredients and their applications. For example, all the dried foods used for savory applications are clustered together, while those commonly used for desserts are in a seperate area.
the most vexing area is the dried herb corner. tons of little green bits in bags with farsi labels. My nose is my guide. Fenugreek and mint look alike when minced and dried, but they smell very different. I avoid short-cut packages (mixed herbs for gourmet sabzi, a particular stew) simply becuase it's not easy to ID the smell of mixed herbs... too complex!
For ethiopean, I make my own berbere mix becuase I simply don't have the option to get an authentic spice mix. I would LOVE to be able to go to an ethiopean store and buy the proper chilis and some niter kibbeh
hope this helps a little....
view modern on long island's profile
There's a nice overview of Ethiopian food and spices HERE.
There's an Ethiopian food glossary HERE.
And I like these two places with recipes:
RecipeSource Ethiopian.
Food Down Under Ethiopian.
view lotusmoss's profile
yeah, I'd say begin by deconstructing some of the prepared items that are popular in Ethiopian cuisine. Through the use of the glossary you can begin ID'ing the individual ingredients.
My kind of detective work! Fun!
view art's profile
maybe there is some sort of smartphone translator app? or take pictures of the labels and translate them via the internet once you get home?
view splatgirl's profile
Marcus Samuelsson has a great cookbook that doesn't focuse solely on Ethio cuisine but has A LOT of great tips and info about it. It's an expensive book but it has some stunning photography and great recipes. http://www.amazon.com/Soul-New-Cuisine-Discovery-Flavors/dp/0764569112/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1
view girlwonderful's profile