Let’s get one thing clear from the start: Never will I, a mere ferenj, ever make t’alla that compares to the t’alla made by Menkir Tamrat, my Ethiopian food sensei. I will always be his young padawan, struggling to live up to my culinary master. But here we are, Menkir and I, separated by thousands of miles – he in Northern California and sometimes Ethiopia, I in Pittsburgh – each making t’alla, the traditional Ethiopian beer. We’ve both had some levels of success, and while mine is neither the best of t’alla nor the worst of t’alla, Menkir certainly makes a far, far better thing than I have e ..read more

Just how do you properly write the name of the grain alcohol that’s sometimes referred to as the “Ethiopian ouzo”? Is it arake or areqe – or areke or araki or areki? Search the web and you’ll find them all, and even a few more.   And just what is the correct name for this drink anyway: areqe or katikala? It goes by both. Before we learn all about the chabsi (liquor) itself, let’s solve the (non)-problem of how to spell it in English. In Amharic, the state language of Ethiopia, areqe looks like this: አረቄ. But there’s no standardized way of transliterating Ethiopic letters into English, and ..read more

(During the summer of 2009, while researching my book “Mesob Across America: Ethiopian Food in the U.S.A.,” the staff at the Ethiopian embassy in Washington, D.C., welcomed me for a visit. Here’s a look at the people I met and what we talked about as I reported it at the time.) So who’s the best Ethiopian cook in Washington, D.C., which together with the nearby Maryland and Virginia suburbs host the largest population of Ethiopians outside of Ethiopia? How about Kebebush Demissie, who for a while prepared three meals a day at 2209 Wyoming Ave. NW. But don’t look for her place on any list of D ..read more