To help us remember some of the details of the food we enjoyed last night, here are some of the descriptions from the restaurant’s website.

Made up of Teff. It is the tiniest cereal in the world. It grows in every climatic region of Ethiopia and Ethiopians are the only people in the world who have cultivated it as a staple cereal. It is ground fine and made into fermented batter, taking up tothree days to prepare. The fermented batter is spread on a hot clay plate where it gets its unique pocked surface, imprints of a million bubbles that have escaped the heat of the hot plate. The pours are essential in absorbing and holding the sauce. A good injera should be pliable but easily breakable to dip in a sauce and roll into a mouthful with just the fingers on one hand.

Almost all of the herbs and spices in Ethiopian cuisine are fused in the clarified butter. The butter is heated slowly to absorbthe flavors of as many as thirty seasonings including basil, garlic, cumin, turmeric and coriander to produce kibe. The kibe (the k pronounced with a click) imparts a flavor so balanced and intense that one cannot discern one spice.

Berbere is the source of the dark red color in all the hot dishes in Ethiopia. Finely minced onions, berbere, water and seasoned butter are cooked long and slow over low heat until they become emulsified. Although red pepper is the main ingredient in berbere, its is sun dried together with almost 20 other spices and herbs before being milled extra-fine. A higher grade of berbere is specialty seasoned to make awaze, often beaten into butter, oil and liquor to make a paste served as a side dip for meats and breads. Stews without berbere are called Alicha.