East African Cuisine

[halalsushi]

Hi, does anybody know about East African food? I live in Los Angeles and there is a small "Little Ethiopia" neighborhood here. I've tasted Ethiopian food at this one restauraunt called Nyala's and it's good. The dishes seem to have been influenced by Indian cooking. I guess it's because East Africa has had a lot of interaction with Arab and Indian traders. Ethiopians use this flat, sourdough pancake-like bread called injeera (I think that's the name) as a utensil to eat their food. It's an interesting experience since you don't use any forks or anything, you just grab the injeera piece and scoop up the food. Ethiopian food is served with pieces of injeera in the center and side dishes surrounding it in a circle. Another East African county, Somalia, also has been culturally influenced by Arab traders that arrived there centuries ago. I've never tried Somalian or Eritrean food but I would like. Are there any other good restauraunts in Los Angeles to check out for other East African foods? Thanks.

[touaregsand]

I live in Los Angeles too and I am familiar with the area you are referring to as well as the restaurant. I've not been in that area for a while though.

East African food is under represented in Los Angeles. And I've not really tried much of outside of the homes of friends or aquaintences. If you are looking for specific restaurant recommendations it's better to post in the California forum.

If you are looking for historical information this forum is the place.

Welcome to egullet halalsushi!

[Richard Kilgore]

There are also some posts on the foods of, and places to eat, in East Africa. Some on Kenya that I recall.

[halalsushi]

Touaregsand, thanks for the welcome! :) Yeah, one of my good friends is from Zimbabwe which is of course in South Africa. He invited me to come over for dinner but I have yet to go to his house, we played basketball a lot during the summer but we've been busy with school. The summer is almost here again, so we'll have more time to chill. Thanks Richard, I'll look for those Kenyan food topics. :)

[Hector]

Eritrean food is quite similar to Ethiopian I think. that's what my Eritrean friend said.. With variations of course!

[chefzadi]

I'm doing a series of workshops and lectures on African and Middle Eastern cuisines. I'm in the process of composing the program now when I get to East Africa I will post some information. Right now I have stay focused on immediate tasks at hand.

[halalsushi]

That's really cool, I look forward to seeing info on the program. Maybe I can attend one of the workshops.

[CHARCUTIER]

Eritrean food differs from Ethiopian food in that it has a much more marked Italian influence, resulting from the respective histories of the countries. Ethiopia was only "colonised" by the Italians for some 5 years whilst Eritrea remained an Italian colony for most of the first half of last century. The culinary effect of said colonisation is that Eritrean cuisine is more reliant on tomato based sauces, and is to a certain extent more approachable for the Westernised palette.

I love real Ethiopian food. It is something of an acquired taste, particularly the ubiquitous, slightly fizzy pancake-like bread called injera that serves as plate and cutlery. I also find the method of eating particularly satisfying: various stews are served on an enormous round injera, and the people roung the table simply tuck in with their hands, using the bread to scoop up the stews. It is genuine communal eating.

I haven't yet been able to find the genuine tast of Ethiopia outside the country. Something ineffable is always missing...

As for Tanzanian food, I am afraid I cannot be so complementary. The staple diet is a porridge-like substance made from maize called ugali. Despite trying my best over a period of 6 months to grow to love it, I never found it to be anything more than tasteless stodge. I wouldn't say that Tanzania (or much of the rest of East Africa) has a very distinctive or attractive cuisine. Something to look out for, though, is nyama choma - simple barbecued beef. Tastes damn good after months of ugali!

[Hector]

Ugali is very simillar to the Italian polenta...

I think many westerners would like it because of that reason..

Then I've heard that there's good cooking in Zanzibar off the east coast of Tanzania. Where there's lots of cooking with spices like: vanilla, black pepper, and cloves.

I ate recently a terrific Zanzibarean dish, which was called: Kuku Paka, I think.

It was chicken which have boiled to be tender in coconut milk with onions, vanilla, cloves, maybe garlic. And then it was barbecued, it had a nice coconut taste.

Edited May 25, 2005 by Hector (log)

[Maison Rustique]

Funny you should ask..

Yesterday fellow eGulleter Kit Williams and I had lunch at Fassica, an Ethiopian restaurant in L.A. It's very near Surfas, so you can have lunch and shop, which is exactly what we did!

Here is a delightful review.

[CHARCUTIER]

I should first confess that I am no great fan of polenta, which, as Hector points out, might explain my dislike of ugali.

Also, in defence of Tanzanian cuisine (and therefore in contradiction to my earlier post) I'd like to agree with Hector that Zanzibar provides some interesting food. The night market in Stone Town is one of the best culinary playgrounds I've ever been to, and the Lobster is cheap! Also, the sugar cane juice is awesome.

[Hector]

I should first confess that I am no great fan of polenta, which, as Hector points out, might explain my dislike of ugali.

Also, in defence of Tanzanian cuisine (and therefore in contradiction to my earlier post) I'd like to agree with Hector that Zanzibar provides some interesting food. The night market in Stone Town is one of the best culinary playgrounds I've ever been to, and the Lobster is cheap! Also, the sugar cane juice is awesome.

←

Sounds wonderful. Cheap lobster and sugar cane juice is so great! If you have any Tanzanian or Zanzibarian recipes it would be nice to see them / I need more African inspiration.

[lueid813]

. . .  I need more African inspiration.

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There are many recipes from many African countries at http://www.congocookbook.com/

[touaregsand]

I should first confess that I am no great fan of polenta, which, as Hector points out, might explain my dislike of ugali.

Also, in defence of Tanzanian cuisine (and therefore in contradiction to my earlier post) I'd like to agree with Hector that Zanzibar provides some interesting food. The night market in Stone Town is one of the best culinary playgrounds I've ever been to, and the Lobster is cheap! Also, the sugar cane juice is awesome.

←

Sounds wonderful. Cheap lobster and sugar cane juice is so great! If you have any Tanzanian or Zanzibarian recipes it would be nice to see them / I need more African inspiration.

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I don't know if you can read French but if you google Cuisine Africaine alot of French langauge websites come up. For Norther African try Cuisine du Maghreb

[Pongi]

hi halalsushi!

Being Italian, I'm rather familiar with Eritrean food, which can be easily found in the main Italian towns (especially in Rome).

The most famous Eritrean specialty is Zighini, a delicious stew -beef stewed in a tomato sauce, seasoned with a spice mix called berbere- calling of course for plenty of injera.

If you like, I can post the recipe

Pongi

[Hector]

I should first confess that I am no great fan of polenta, which, as Hector points out, might explain my dislike of ugali.

Also, in defence of Tanzanian cuisine (and therefore in contradiction to my earlier post) I'd like to agree with Hector that Zanzibar provides some interesting food. The night market in Stone Town is one of the best culinary playgrounds I've ever been to, and the Lobster is cheap! Also, the sugar cane juice is awesome.

←

Sounds wonderful. Cheap lobster and sugar cane juice is so great! If you have any Tanzanian or Zanzibarian recipes it would be nice to see them / I need more African inspiration.

←

I don't know if you can read French but if you google Cuisine Africaine alot of French langauge websites come up. For Norther African try Cuisine du Maghreb

←

Mais Oui! I can read French (Spanish, Swedish, Norveigian, Danish, Portuguese too )

Didn't knew there was so many good African food pages in French, so thank you! I'm very familliar with Mahgreb cuisine, but thankyou!

Edited June 14, 2005 by Hector (log)

[chefzadi]

I should first confess that I am no great fan of polenta, which, as Hector points out, might explain my dislike of ugali.

Also, in defence of Tanzanian cuisine (and therefore in contradiction to my earlier post) I'd like to agree with Hector that Zanzibar provides some interesting food. The night market in Stone Town is one of the best culinary playgrounds I've ever been to, and the Lobster is cheap! Also, the sugar cane juice is awesome.

←

Sounds wonderful. Cheap lobster and sugar cane juice is so great! If you have any Tanzanian or Zanzibarian recipes it would be nice to see them / I need more African inspiration.

←

I don't know if you can read French but if you google Cuisine Africaine alot of French langauge websites come up. For Norther African try Cuisine du Maghreb

←

Please post the recipe.