Exotic Ethiopian Cooking : Sociey, Culture, Hospitality, and Traditions. Revised Extended Edition. 178 Tested Recipes. With Food Composition Tables.
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Manufacturer: Ethiopian Cookbook Enterprises
Publisher: Ethiopian Cookbook Enterprises
Author: Daniel J. Mesfin
Exotic Ethiopian Cooking : Sociey, Culture, Hospitality, and Traditions. Revised Extended Edition. 178 Tested Recipes. With Food Composition Tables. Description
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 641
EAN: 9780961634520
ISBN: 0961634529
Label: Ethiopian Cookbook Enterprises
Manufacturer: Ethiopian Cookbook Enterprises
Number Of Items: 1
Publication Date: 1994-03
Publisher: Ethiopian Cookbook Enterprises
Studio: Ethiopian Cookbook Enterprises
Dewey Decimal Number: 641
EAN: 9780961634520
ISBN: 0961634529
Label: Ethiopian Cookbook Enterprises
Manufacturer: Ethiopian Cookbook Enterprises
Number Of Items: 1
Publication Date: 1994-03
Publisher: Ethiopian Cookbook Enterprises
Studio: Ethiopian Cookbook Enterprises
Editorial Review of Exotic Ethiopian Cooking : Sociey, Culture, Hospitality, and Traditions. Revised Extended Edition. 178 Tested Recipes. With Food Composition Tables.
Customer Reviews of Exotic Ethiopian Cooking : Sociey, Culture, Hospitality, and Traditions. Revised Extended Edition. 178 Tested Recipes. With Food Composition Tables.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A good place to start, but receipes need more testing
Review: Having lived in DC and now Seattle, Ethiopian restaurants are cheap, plentiful and delicious. I've had this book for a number of years without having cooked from it, but finally decided to give it a try.
The results were good in some places, not-so-good in others. I made Tibs Wet (spicy fried beef), Zigni Wet (spicy ground beef stew), Gomen Besiga (collard greens), and Nitir Qibe, the spiced butter that is the foundation of this cuisine. Injera made with teff was bought from the store, as was berbere (pepper-based spice mix).
The Tibs were excellent, just like I get in so many restaurants. But only because I was able to adjust from mistakes made following the Zigni (ground beef) Wet recipe. The ground beef recipe overstated the amount of berbere by about 15-20%, the butter at least 50-100% or more. The Gomen was pretty bad - even though I had cut the butter (from previous recipes) the recipe called for way too much red onion, which overpowered the collards and ruined the taste. If it weren't for all my experience eating Ethiopian and cooking Punjabi Indian cuisine (similar spices and methods), this meal would have been a lost cause.
I am grateful there is at least one Ethiopian cookbook out there, even if the recipes need some serious tweaking to be usable. There is considerable info on Ethiopian culture - both well researched and enjoyable to read. If you're going to cook from these recipes, add your berbere sparingly at first (50-60%) and adjust to taste. Use perhaps 20-25% of the spiced butter to start and work your way up if needed.
As for the lack of cooking instructions - if you've ever eaten in an Ethiopian restaurant you will understand this is a cook-by-feel cuisine, with little actual measuring, largely taught by domestic cooks (mostly women) to their children. Yes, this is hard to work with if you're used to recipes, but I think it proves the book's authenticity. It's hard enough to find the ingredients for this cuisine, let alone cookbooks. If the author would test the recipes more thoroughly, we could have real winner.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Misses the mark
Review: I've been looking for a great Ethiopian-only cookbook for a while. This isn't quite it. The recipes are tempting, but most require a lot of math to make them work for smaller kitchens. One example is the recipe for berere, a spice mix used in many of the foods. The quantities of ingredients this book calls for would leave a 4 person home with enough spice for a lifetime! One plus is the multiple recipes for Injera, the traditional flat bread used as "silverware" to eat stews, etc. There are several options depending on the flour you want to use. I'm still looking for an all-Ethiopian cookbook which is convenient for small gatherings and families.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Most complete catalog of original ethiopian cooking
Review: Most good Ethiopian dishes are reliant on a subtle melange of spices and flavors. This is at times hard to master. This book offers a straight forward way of understanding this complex mix.
It is the most complete catalog of original Ethiopian recipes available today. The recipes are precise and give you the classic version of most Ethiopian dishes.
It may be a bit complex for beginner cooks, but with a little effort and lots of time :), you will be able to replicate most of the classic Ethiopian dishes.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A sincere and genuine effort...
Review: I give this book 5 stars, because it has so much cultural history in it, because it is a genuine, truly sincere effort, and because it is so vast; it truly has *a lot* of recipes.
The injera recipe is difficult to recreate, as are many of the amts. of ingredients called for in recipes.
However, it is a total compendium of many, many dishes. The author clearly put his heart, life, and culture into this book and it shows. I used this book many times to recreate these classic dishes.
Thank you Jote Mesfin!
Ethiopian-inspired Cooking, Vegetarian Specialties
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Exotic Ethiopian Cooking : Sociey, Culture, Hospitality, and Traditions. Revised Extended Edition. 178 Tested Recipes. With Food
Review: The instructions were not always clear. Some of the ingredients were omitted from recipes while others were not completely explained. Perhaps another editing job would be prudent. Otherwise, the food I prepared from this book was absolutely sumptuous and I appreciated the cultural background chapters.
Tami Swartz - Foodie
Review Summary: A good place to start, but receipes need more testing
Review: Having lived in DC and now Seattle, Ethiopian restaurants are cheap, plentiful and delicious. I've had this book for a number of years without having cooked from it, but finally decided to give it a try.
The results were good in some places, not-so-good in others. I made Tibs Wet (spicy fried beef), Zigni Wet (spicy ground beef stew), Gomen Besiga (collard greens), and Nitir Qibe, the spiced butter that is the foundation of this cuisine. Injera made with teff was bought from the store, as was berbere (pepper-based spice mix).
The Tibs were excellent, just like I get in so many restaurants. But only because I was able to adjust from mistakes made following the Zigni (ground beef) Wet recipe. The ground beef recipe overstated the amount of berbere by about 15-20%, the butter at least 50-100% or more. The Gomen was pretty bad - even though I had cut the butter (from previous recipes) the recipe called for way too much red onion, which overpowered the collards and ruined the taste. If it weren't for all my experience eating Ethiopian and cooking Punjabi Indian cuisine (similar spices and methods), this meal would have been a lost cause.
I am grateful there is at least one Ethiopian cookbook out there, even if the recipes need some serious tweaking to be usable. There is considerable info on Ethiopian culture - both well researched and enjoyable to read. If you're going to cook from these recipes, add your berbere sparingly at first (50-60%) and adjust to taste. Use perhaps 20-25% of the spiced butter to start and work your way up if needed.
As for the lack of cooking instructions - if you've ever eaten in an Ethiopian restaurant you will understand this is a cook-by-feel cuisine, with little actual measuring, largely taught by domestic cooks (mostly women) to their children. Yes, this is hard to work with if you're used to recipes, but I think it proves the book's authenticity. It's hard enough to find the ingredients for this cuisine, let alone cookbooks. If the author would test the recipes more thoroughly, we could have real winner.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Misses the mark
Review: I've been looking for a great Ethiopian-only cookbook for a while. This isn't quite it. The recipes are tempting, but most require a lot of math to make them work for smaller kitchens. One example is the recipe for berere, a spice mix used in many of the foods. The quantities of ingredients this book calls for would leave a 4 person home with enough spice for a lifetime! One plus is the multiple recipes for Injera, the traditional flat bread used as "silverware" to eat stews, etc. There are several options depending on the flour you want to use. I'm still looking for an all-Ethiopian cookbook which is convenient for small gatherings and families.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Most complete catalog of original ethiopian cooking
Review: Most good Ethiopian dishes are reliant on a subtle melange of spices and flavors. This is at times hard to master. This book offers a straight forward way of understanding this complex mix.
It is the most complete catalog of original Ethiopian recipes available today. The recipes are precise and give you the classic version of most Ethiopian dishes.
It may be a bit complex for beginner cooks, but with a little effort and lots of time :), you will be able to replicate most of the classic Ethiopian dishes.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A sincere and genuine effort...
Review: I give this book 5 stars, because it has so much cultural history in it, because it is a genuine, truly sincere effort, and because it is so vast; it truly has *a lot* of recipes.
The injera recipe is difficult to recreate, as are many of the amts. of ingredients called for in recipes.
However, it is a total compendium of many, many dishes. The author clearly put his heart, life, and culture into this book and it shows. I used this book many times to recreate these classic dishes.
Thank you Jote Mesfin!
Ethiopian-inspired Cooking, Vegetarian Specialties
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Exotic Ethiopian Cooking : Sociey, Culture, Hospitality, and Traditions. Revised Extended Edition. 178 Tested Recipes. With Food
Review: The instructions were not always clear. Some of the ingredients were omitted from recipes while others were not completely explained. Perhaps another editing job would be prudent. Otherwise, the food I prepared from this book was absolutely sumptuous and I appreciated the cultural background chapters.
Tami Swartz - Foodie