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Eritrean cuisine is based on Eritrea's native culinary traditions, but also arises from social interchanges with other regions. The local cuisine, despite featuring influences of both the Ottoman and Italian cuisines, shares similarities with the cuisine of neighboring Ethiopia and the cuisines from other African countries in the region.
Eritrean cuisine shares similarities with surrounding countries' cuisines; however, the cuisine has its unique characteristics.
The main traditional food in Eritrean cuisine is tsebhi (stew), served with injera (flatbread made from teff, wheat, or sorghum and hilbet (paste made from legumes; mainly lentil and faba beans). A typical traditional Eritrean dish consists of injera accompanied by a spicy stew, which frequently includes beef, goat, lamb or fish.
Overall, Eritrean cuisine strongly resembles that of neighboring Ethiopia, [1] [2] although Eritrean cooking tends to feature more seafood than Ethiopian cuisine on account of its coastal location. [1]
Additionally, owing to its colonial history, cuisine in Eritrea features more Italian influences than are present in Ethiopian cooking, including more pasta specials and greater use of curry powders and cumin. [3] People in Eritrea likewise tend to drink coffee. [1] Christian Eritreans also drink sowa (a bitter fermented barley) and mies (a fermented honey beverage), [4] while Muslim Eritreans abstain from drinking alcohol. [5]
When eating injera diners generally share food from a large tray placed in the centre of a low dining table. Numerous pieces of injera are layered on this tray and topped with various spicy stews. Diners break into the section of injera in front of them, tearing off pieces and dipping them into the stews.[ citation needed ]
The stews that accompany injera are usually made from beef, chicken, lamb, goat, mutton, or vegetables. Most Eritreans, with the exception of the Saho, like their food spicy and hot. Berbere , a mixture that consists of a variety of common and unusual herbs and spices, accompanies almost all dishes. Stews include zigni , made with beef; dorho tsebhi, made with chicken; alicha, a vegetable dish made without berbere; and shiro , a purée of various legumes.[ citation needed ]
When making ga'at , a ladle is used to make an indentation in the dough, which is then filled with a mixture of berbere and melted butter, and surrounded by milk or yogurt. When dining, a small piece of ga'at is dipped into the berbere and the butter sauce, and then into the milk or yogurt.
Influenced by its past as an Italian colony, Eritrean cuisine also features unique interpretations of classic Italian dishes. [6] Among these specialties are pasta sauces spiced with berbere. [7]
Most dishes common to Eritrea are either meat-based or vegetable-based stews that are served over the spongy, fermented bread injera .
Suwa is the name for the home-brewed beer common in Eritrea. It is made from roasted corn, barley, and other grain and is flavored with gesho , a type of buckthorn leaf. The beverage is often made for celebrations; a sweet honey wine (called mies ) is also commonly served. The coffee ceremony is one of the most important and recognizable parts of Eritrean cultures. Coffee is offered when visiting friends, during festivities, or as a daily staple of life. If coffee is politely declined, then tea (shahee) will most likely be served.
Even though Eritrea has a tradition of coffee drinking for centuries, Italian-style coffee like espresso and cappuccino are extremely common in Eritrea, served in practically every bar and coffee shop in the capital Asmara.
The biggest brewery in the country is Asmara Brewery, built 1939 under the name Melotti. The brewery today produces a range of beverages. A popular beverage that is common during festivities is Eritrean-style Sambuca; in Tigrinya it is translated to areki. [12] [13]
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Ethiopian cuisine characteristically consists of vegetable and often very spicy meat dishes. This is usually in the form of wat, a thick stew, served on top of injera, a large sourdough flatbread, which is about 50 centimeters in diameter and made out of fermented teff flour. Ethiopians eat most of the time with their right hands, using pieces of injera to pick up bites of entrées and side dishes.
Russian cuisine is a collection of the different dishes and cooking traditions of the Russian people as well as a list of culinary products popular in Russia, with most names being known since pre-Soviet times, coming from all kinds of social circles.
African cuisine is a staple of the continent's culture, and its history is entwined with the story of the native people of Africa. The foods that native Africans eat have been influenced by their religions, as well as by their climates and lifestyles. The first Africans to inhabit the continent were hunter-gatherers who ate what they could find in nature. As agriculture became more common in Africa, so did agriculture-based diets.
Wat or wot or tsebhi is an Ethiopian and Eritrean stew that may be prepared with chicken, beef, lamb, a variety of vegetables, spice mixtures such as berbere , and niter kibbeh, a seasoned clarified butter.
Arab cuisine is the cuisine of the Arab world, defined as the various regional cuisines of the Arab people, spanning from the Maghreb to the Mashriq. These cuisines are centuries old and reflect the culture of trading in ingredients, spices, herbs, and commodities. The regions have many similarities, but also unique traditions. They have also been influenced by climate, cultivation, and mutual commerce.
Assyrian cuisine is the cuisine of the indigenous ethnic Assyrian people, Eastern Aramaic-speaking Syriac Christians of Iraq, northeastern Syria, northwestern Iran and southeastern Turkey. Assyrian cuisine is primarily identical to Iraqi/Mesopotamian cuisine, as well as being very similar to other Middle Eastern and Caucasian cuisines, as well as Greek cuisine, Levantine cuisine, Turkish cuisine, Iranian cuisine, Palestinian cuisine, and Armenian cuisine, with most dishes being similar to the cuisines of the area in which those Assyrians live/originate from. It is rich in grains such as barley, meat, tomato, herbs, spices, cheese, and potato as well as herbs, fermented dairy products, and pickles.
Yemeni cuisine is distinct from the wider Middle Eastern cuisines, but with a degree of regional variation. Although some foreign influences are evident in some regions of the country, the Yemeni kitchen is based on similar foundations across the country.
Shiro, also called shiro wat, or tsebhi shiro, is a stew served for either lunch or dinner, originating from Ethiopia and Eritrea. An essential part of Eritrean and Ethiopian cuisine, its primary ingredient is powdered chickpeas or broad bean meal and often prepared with the addition of minced onions, garlic and, depending upon regional variation, ground ginger or chopped tomatoes and chili-peppers. Shiro is served atop injera or kitcha. Tegabino shiro is a type of shiro made from heavily spiced legume, chickpea, field pea, or fava bean, oil, and water. It is brought bubbling to the table in a miniature clay pot or shallow aluminum pan. It is often consumed with dark or sergegna injera.
Fit-fit or fir-fir, , is an Eritrean and Ethiopian food typically served as breakfast. Fit-fit is served by preparing sauce and shredding injera or kitcha into pieces and mixing the two. It is generally made with shredded flat bread, spiced clarified butter, and the hot spice berbere. There are two main varieties of fit-fit depending on the type of flatbread being used: the sourdough injera and the unleavened kitcha.
Afghan cuisine is influenced to a certain extent by Persian, Central Asian and Indian cuisines due to Afghanistan's close proximity and cultural ties. The cuisine is halal and mainly based on mutton, beef, poultry and fish with rice and Afghan bread. Accompanying these are common vegetables and dairy products, such as milk, yogurt, whey, etc., and fresh and dried fruits such as apples, apricots, grapes, bananas, oranges, plums, pomegranates, sweet melons, raisins, etc. The diet of most Afghans revolves around rice-based dishes, while various forms of naan is consumed with most meals. Tea is generally consumed daily in large quantities, and is a major part of hospitality. The culinary specialties reflect the nation's ethnic and geographic diversity. The national dish of Afghanistan is Qabili Palau, a rice dish cooked with raisins, carrots, nuts, and lamb or beef.
Tunisian cuisine, the cuisine of Tunisia, consists of the cooking traditions, ingredients, recipes and techniques developed in Tunisia since antiquity. It is mainly a blend of Mediterranean and native Punics-Berber cuisine. Historically, Tunisian cuisine witnessed influence and exchanges with many cultures and nations like Italians, Andalusians, French and Arabs.
Italian Eritrean cuisine is the mix of Eritrean dishes and spices with Italian dishes.
Malaysian Indian cuisine, or the cooking of the ethnic Indian communities in Malaysia, consists of adaptations of authentic dishes from India, as well as original creations inspired by the diverse food culture of Malaysia. Because the vast majority of Malaysia's Indian community are of South Indian descent, and are mostly ethnic Tamils who are descendants of immigrants from a historical region which consists of the modern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka's Northern Province, much of Malaysian Indian cuisine is predominantly South Indian inspired in character and taste. A typical Malaysian Indian dish is likely to be redolent with curry leaves, whole and powdered spice, and contains fresh coconut in various forms. Ghee is still widely used for cooking, although vegetable oils and refined palm oils are now commonplace in home kitchens. Before a meal it is customary to wash hands as cutlery is often not used while eating, with the exception of a serving spoon for each respective dish.
Djiboutian cuisine is a mixture of Somali, Afar, Yemeni, and French cuisine, with some additional South Asian culinary influences.
Acehnese cuisine is the cuisine of the Acehnese people of Aceh in Sumatra, Indonesia. This cuisine is popular and widely known in Indonesia. Arab, Persian, and Indian traders influenced food in Aceh although flavours have substantially changed their original forms. The spices combined in Acehnese cuisine are commonly found in Indian and Arab cuisine, such as ginger, pepper, coriander, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, and fennel. A variety of Acehnese food is cooked with curry or coconut milk, which is generally combined with meat such as buffalo, beef, goat meat, lamb, mutton, fish, or chicken.
Zigni, kaih tsebhi or kai wat is a popular Eritrean and Ethiopian stew made from meat, tomatoes, red onions and Berbere spices. The meat can be beef, lamb, goat, or chicken and usually placed on a plate of injera, a type of unleavened bread made from teff flour. It can be eaten for lunch or dinner. The dish requires a relatively long amount of time but not a lot of active effort to make. The traditional recipe can take as long as five to six hours to prepare. As such, it is sometimes reserved for special occasions. The Berbere spices can make the zigni spicy and give it a red color.
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