This week we learned all about Ethiopian culture, music, and food right from our home! We feasted on injera and learned some super fun new dance moves.
Our goal is not only to inspire our children to appreciate different cultures, but we also must support local businesses, particularly those founded by immigrants. Indianapolis is home to some fantastic international cuisine, and this week’s decision to carry out from Abyssinia Ethiopian restaurant proves that point.
Ethiopian Culture and Fun Facts: You’ll Never Guess What Year You’re In!
Ethiopia is a gorgeous country, landlocked inside the horn of Africa, sharing borders with Eritrea, Somalia, and Sudan. It is home to the oldest preserved human, “Lucy,” who was in the Great Rift Valley over 3 million years ago. Almost every human being can trace its heritage to Ethiopia. Ethiopia is a place unto itself. It is protected by its people and its heritage, making Ethiopian culture rich and diverse. Ethiopia is the only African nation to have never been colonized. It twice battled Italy’s invasions in 1935 and 1941. Speaking of dates, it has its own calendar and time. Ethiopians have 13 months in a year, and Sunrise starts the 12-hour clock, so this week’s Worldly Wednesday started on the 16th day of the 6th month, 2014, at 10 o’clock.
Ethiopia is home to 80 distinct cultures, and a variety of languages, with Ahmaric being its top language. Christianity as its primary religion, followed by Islam. Ethiopia is the second most populated country in Aftrica, and the 12th most populated in the world. It is home to 9 World Heritage Sites: Askum, Fasil Ghebbi, Harar Jugol, Konso, Awash, Rock-Hewn Churches, Simien National Park, and Tiya. All that is packed inside a relatively small, lush, and mountainous region.
Ethiopia might have been the most fun-fact-friendly country (say that 5 times fast) that we’ve done yet! There are so many interesting things to learn about this place.
- Over half of Africa’s mountains are in Ethiopia.
- The first African Olympic Gold Medalist, Abebe Bikila, is from Ethiopia.
- Ethiopia was founded in 980 BC.
- Coffee was discovered in Ethiopia. The story has it that a goat herder found his goats very energetic after they ate coffee beans, and the rest is history.
- Learn more fun facts from Big 7 Travel
Credit: Dame Africa
Ethiopian Music: Dance Your Shoulders Off!
There were so many Ethiopian playlists to choose from this week! Alli listened to several through the day to figure out which would be best for dinner.
- Ethiopian Jazz and Ethiopian Coffee are great for a relaxed, chill vibe – and of course, a steaming cup of Ethiopian coffee.
- Top Ethiopian Music 2022 is for all the hits! Andrew heard a few of these songs while he was picking up the food at Abysinnia, and then again when he came home and Alli had this playlist going.
If you’re following along from home, I encourage you to play some Ethiopian music, whether it’s these playlists or a YouTube channel. It really helps put you in the Ethiopian mindset while preparing or eating the meal.
Ethiopian Foods: A Shared Meal
Ethiopians eat a variety of vegetables and spiced meats. Injera is the famous sponge-like flatbread that Ethiopians eat with many meals, with spiced vegetables and meats on top or on the side. Typically, Ethiopians eat with their right hand, taking a piece of injera and scooping up sides with that piece. We also noticed while watching videos that it is common to feed a friend a bite to eat. We loved how the Ethiopian food and Ethiopian culture go hand in hand. These injera dishes are beautiful, we couldn’t get enough of the pictures:
Credit: The Perennial Palate
Doro wat is considered the national dish, and is traditionally served at all Ethiopian holiday meals. Doro wat is a berberre-spiced chicken stew, with whole boiled eggs. This would definitely have been one we tried cooking had we been cooking from home – check out this recipe from The Daring Gourmet if you want to try it for yourself!
Credit: The Daring Gourmet
Takeout From Abysinnia Ethiopian Restaurant
There were so many amazing foods that we could have made at home this week – but we are so lucky to have a few Ethiopian food options near to us here in Indianapolis, so we decided to order takeout this week. For our fellow Hoosier followers, and anyone who gets a chance to visit this amazing city, please check out Abyssinia Ethiopian Restaurant.
There are actually several other highly-rated Ethiopian restaurants around the Indy area that we will be visiting for a coffee ritual soon as well:
- Lete’s Injera and Cafe
- Axum Ethiopian Restaurant
- St. Yared Ethiopian Cuisine and Coffeehaus
- Queen Sheba Ethiopian Catering
Credit: Abysinnia Ethiopian Restaurant
Andrew went to pick up carry out from Abysinnia on his way home from work. He entered through a small door, but there was so much on the other side. A host, a young man in his mid-20s, stood in the middle of the room. Andrew approached, told him he was there for a pick up. The host clarified a few points of the order (and wound up with way more injera than expected), and then he moved on to work the room full of regulars. Indianapolis is no mean city, and it makes us proud that expatriates and immigrants can find a tiny sliver of home buried in the Midwest.
The restaurant featured two huge TVs, but back toward the kitchen was a small alcove dedicated to the Ethiopian coffee ritual. One TV was blaring Ethiopian music videos, upbeat and lively music. The other screen, the silent one that everyone was watching, played Manchester United v Atletico Madrid champions league game. Patrons celebrated as Man U scored the game-tying goal.
Back at Home
We hosted Alli’s family for this Wednesday’s small feast, and as such, ordered far more food than we needed. Many Ethiopians are followers of the Coptic Orthodox Church, which dictates that their members do not eat meat or dairy products on fasting days, including most Wednesdays and Fridays, to be forgiven for sins committed throughout the year. In trying to respect Ethiopian customs, we ordered all vegetarian dishes from Abysinnia.
The vegetarian combo plate included:
- Quosta – chopped spinach in garlic and onion sauce
- Yesimir wett – red lentils in berberre (spicy onion) sauce
- Gommen – collard greens in garlic and onion sauce
- Tike Gommen – cabbage and carrots in garlic and onion sauce
- Dinich Alecha – potatoes and carrots in garlic and onion sauce
- Atakilt Wett – green beans and carrots in garlic and onion sauce
Beautiful, right? And of course – tons and tons of Injera, an Ethiopian sour flatbread. Neil loved this so much he kept eating it straight off his plate:
Please ignore the crown (fairy tale day at daycare) and the fact that he would only add rice to his Injera. We are so lucky that our kids try so many new things, but there are certain days when the only thing they will put in their mouths are carbs. He eventually ate some dinich alecha (potatoes) and couldn’t get enough of the injera, we celebrate small victories over here.
We swayed Alli’s dad to the cause as well. We could certainly sense his skepticism as I walked in with bags of floppy brown flatbread and a litany of sauces. By the end of the evening he was commenting on how unexpectedly great the food was. All it took was him giving it a shot, and the world has 7 more injera-lovers among it. It just takes open hearts and open minds.
Ethiopian Culture and Travel Videos
Wow, we had some amazing video content this week. Our family’s favorite part of this special evening was learning all of the amazing Ethiopian dance moves, and taking a deep dive into Ethiopian Culture.
Eskista is a traditional Ethiopian dance, from the Amhara ethnic group, which consists of an intense shoulder movement (that none of us could do correctly, but we tried).
Vids:
An Ethiopian Expedition: Learn All About Ethiopia! This was our favorite!! So many fun, interesting facts, many of which you’ve already learned if you’ve read this full post, but you get a little pop quiz at the beginning of this video to see if you were paying attention to your reading here! This features so many different people from around Ethiopia, fun facts, cultural tidbits, and more.
All about Ethiopia (Documentary for kids) This documentary about Ethiopia is by kids, for kids (and adults!). Fun to learn about a country through a kid’s eyes.
Ethiokids, Ethiopian American kids, Learn Amharic, Learn to name your body in Amharic Who doesn’t want to watch some adorable Ethiopian kids singing “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” in both English and Amharic?
