Did you know that today is Ethiopian Christmas?
We celebrated by making a home-cooked Ethiopian dinner of Doro Wat (spicy chicken stew), Mesir Wat (lentils) and Ye'abecha Gomen (collard greens, Ethiopian style). All this was served on home-made mini injera. The meal was a lot more work than I normally put into preparing a meal - I cooked on and off since 10:30am. The chicken has spicy and delicious, and the collard greens turned out just right. The injera turned out pretty good, too (not quite as fluffy as I remember). The lentils were kind of 'bla' in my opinion, but then I don't particularly like lentils. Mark thought the Doro Wat was delicious, which I was kind of surprised at, since it was quite spicy. It had a multitude of flavors that unfolded as you chewed: first the spicy flavor from the berbere mixture, then the cardamon and the ginger, then the lemon and tomato.
Our dinner.
The story of how I came by the berbere is kind of cool. There's a Momma at Mark's school who I was pretty sure is Ethiopian. We smiled at each other and greeted each other every day (for months) but I've never officially met her. On Wednesday I went up to her and asked her point blank if her family celebrates Ethiopian Christmas. She was surprised and delighted! I asked her where I could best buy berbere to make Doro Wat, and she was even more delighted, and told me she would bring me some the next day that her family in ET makes and sends her. The next day she brought me a vat of berbere, and I brought her a little loaf of cinnamon sourdough bread that I had baked. We talked and I admitted how nervous I had been to ask her, because I wasn't even sure she was from ET. She laughed and said she was just so happy to find someone in our community who even knows about ET holidays. I wished her a Melkam Genna, and she clapped her hands and wished me the same. :o)
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