Ethiopia food & drink

In restaurants in Ethiopia, the first thing the server asks you is “fasting or not fasting?” so they know which menu to give you. Adherents of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, who number in the tens of millions, are expected to fast at least 180 days of the year – and more than 250 days of the year for the most observant. If you’re fasting, you’re supposed to avoid any animal products whatsoever, which means that Ethiopia is one of the easiest countries in the world to be a vegan traveller.

No need to worry about not feeling full, though. Meals are usually accompanied by injera, a pancake-like sourdough flatbread, a staple food of Ethiopia. You tear a piece off, scoop your chosen topping onto the bread, and tuck in.

Eskinder Hailu is the founder of our partner Highway Tours, who offer a range of cultural and active tours across Ethiopia. “If you added all of the fasting days up they would probably amount to seven or eight months of the year!” he says. “Ethiopia was the second country, after Armenia, to adopt Christianity, and fasting has its roots in the Bible, so many Christians go vegan on Wednesdays and Fridays. It’s common here to say grace and make the sign of cross, whether you’re religious or not, before eating. And when we recite the Lord’s prayer we say: ‘give us our daily injera.’”

Many travellers in Ethiopia will avoid meat, fish, and dairy, even if they’re not actually vegan, on fasting days. When the food is this good on a vegan holiday in Ethiopia, it’s never an issue. “What I always recommend people try here is beyaynetu, the vegan platter,” says Eskinder. “It’s a very colourful tray of ten to fifteen carefully prepared curries.”

One ingredient you’ll come across often in vegan dishes is enset, otherwise known as ‘false banana’. The fruit of the tree is inedible, but the stems and roots can be fermented and used as a base for porridge and bread. Little known outside Ethiopia, it has been suggested by some scientists that, because enset thrives in different types of soil and can be planted and harvested at any time of year, it could be a useful crop for African countries where climate change affects food production.

You won’t find major chains in Ethiopia; even in the capital, Addis Ababa, most restaurants are locally owned. And outside the capital that is uniformly the case. All the restaurants where you eat on a tour of Ethiopia are directly connected to suppliers and farmers in the surrounding area. That means Ethiopia is fertile ground for ‘slow food’, the global movement that prioritises locally grown, seasonal, and organic ingredients, and just slowing down to really appreciate the conviviality of preparing and sharing a meal.

“On one of our hiking tours we stay in community-owned lodges, and eat only the produce from that place,” continues Eskinder. “You can watch as people make injera, and have a go at making it yourself, before we all sit down to share a meal.”

Meals in Ethiopia are immensely sociable, as you all sit around a table to share the feast, eating and passing food with the right hand and – if you’re into the idea, feeding others too. “Ethiopians sometimes feed each other as a sign of care and affection,” says Eskinder. “It’s a practice known as gursha that is popular with older generations and couples. So, it’s considered polite to wash your hands before eating, and preferably in sight of your fellow diners. I saw it on The Simpsons once!”

You would be forgiven for thinking that a veg-heavy cuisine could be a little on the bland side, but you would also be wrong. Many dishes are liberally seasoned with a spice mix known as berbere and heavy on the chili powder. “Ethiopia was never colonised by Europeans,” points out Eskinder, “and cuisine-wise we are closer to the Middle East. We like lots of spice and aroma and flavour, to feel the ‘kick’ in our mouths.”

But while Ethiopia was never colonised, it was invaded and occupied for a brief period by Mussolini’s Italy in the mid-1930s. One legacy of that occupation is that you can enjoy excellent pizza in Ethiopia – though if you travel with Eskinder he’ll always encourage you to try the traditional food instead.

You certainly don’t need to be a vegan to enjoy travelling in Ethiopia. Committed carnivores will find plenty of meaty wats (stews) featuring chunks of goat or beef. Chicken is eaten mostly on holidays such as Easter or New Year – “on special occasions we’ll take a full day to prepare a spicy chicken stew we call doro wat,” says Eskinder. Injera is your friend as always, serving as plate and cutlery as well as food, and saving a great deal of washing up. Eating raw meat is also popular in Ethiopia. Kitfo is minced beef, not dissimilar to steak tartare, while gored gored doesn’t even bother with the mincing part. It’s just chunks of raw beef, served with a squeeze of lemon and a piece of injera.

Legend has it that coffee was first discovered by a 9th-century goatherder named Kaldi, who noticed his goats were becoming energetic after chewing the berries of a certain bush. Whatever the truth of that story, the coffee drink certainly originated in Ethiopia, before spreading east to the Arabian Peninsula, Persia, Egypt and, by the 17th century, Europe.

In Ethiopia, coffee is served thick, sweet, and rocket-fuel strong, sometimes with a handful of popcorn on the side. Eskinder explains that coffee is typically served instead of dessert after meals. “Something I like to do with my groups is to take them for a coffee ceremony. These ceremonies are small enterprises often operated by women or families. They earn a living by selling their coffee to the local neighbourhood and you will often see their stalls by the street or just tucked away in a corner.” You can watch the entire colourful process, as they roast the coffee with wood or charcoal, then grind it and brew it. It’s a nice alternative to getting a takeaway at the cafe or coffee shop.

If you’re a real coffee-lover, you can even join an Ethiopia coffee tour that ventures to the lush southwest of the country, a region known as Kafa. You can walk the plantations, meet the villagers who work them, watch the entire production process, and who knows, perhaps even enjoy a cup or two as you go.

Of course, not everyone is a coffee fan, or wants to drink it all the time anyway. As well as coffee carts, you’ll also see little juice bars all around. Anyone with a juicer can quickly whip up a fresh blend of mangos, bananas, or avocados, so you’ll have little difficulty hitting your seven-a-day here.

Tej is an alcoholic drink often referred to as ‘honey wine’. It can take weeks to make, and is drunk from special wide-bottomed flasks called birilles that are held with two fingers. Tej is typically served at special occasions like weddings, parties, or public holidays, but if you visit someone’s home then a flask may well be handed around. Berz is another traditional Ethiopian drink, also made from honey, but mixed with water and herbs, and not alcoholic.

Honey, then, is big business in Ethiopia. “We’re among the top ten honey exporters in the world,” says Eskinder. “Lots of people keep bees here to make their own honey. I personally have five hives in my own small garden, and I’m expecting my next batch in December. But don’t tell the vegans!”