| GreeNNNz a întrebat:

Salut am de facut un proitect la englezza cu tara Ethiopia...si trebuie sa facem un meniu cu mancare traditionala bauturi prajituri etc

Răspuns Câştigător
| MMihai a răspuns:

Un proitect == ce proiect , o compunere
http://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etiopia
http://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geografia_Etiopiei
http://travel.blog.cotidianul.ro/......alta-lume/
http://www.descopera.ro/eticheta/etiopia
http://www.turistik.ro/etiopia
Gastronomie

Bucataria traditionala Abyssiniana este complexa si variata. "Berbere" este un sos picant ce contine piper cayenne si alte 12 condimente. Este greoi si bogat si este preparat cu mult unt. Sosul se serveste cu carne de pui, berbec, capra sau vita. Carnea de porc este consumata in Etiopia doar de turistii europeni si americani. Nicio masa nu este completa fara o varietate de legume, gatite sau crude. Branza se consuma putin si nici pestele nu este un fel popular.

La masa, oamenii se aseaza in jurul unui cos rotund (mesob) cuun capac plat, pe care se pune painea in forma de turta (injera) si felurile de mancare. Se mananca cu mainile. La inceputul si la sfarsitul mesei gazda ofera mesenilor prosoape fierbinti. Masa se incheie cu cafeaua.
http://gastronomie.ele.ro/Friptura_de_miel_etiopiana_--r1433.html
http://bucataria.realitatea.net/retete/1379/miel-etiopian
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_cuisine

Ethiopian cuisine and Eritrean cuisine characteristically consist of spicy vegetable and meat dishes, usually in the form of wat (or wot ), a thick stew, served atop injera , a large sourdough flatbread [ 1 ] , which is about 50 centimeters (20 inches) in diameter and made out of fermented teff flour. [ 1 ] Ethiopians eat with their right hands, using pieces of injera to pick up bites of entrées and side dishes. [ 1 ] Utensils are rarely used with this dish.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church prescribes a number of fasting ( tsom Ge'ez: ጾም ṣōm ) periods, including Wednesdays, Fridays, and the entire Lenten season, so Ethiopian cuisine contains many dishes that are vegan ( Amharic : ye-tsom የጾም ye-ṣōm , Tigrinya : nay-tsom ናይጾም nāy-ṣōm ). This has also led Ethiopian cooks to develop a rich array of cooking oil sources: besides sesame and safflower , Ethiopian cuisine also uses nug (also spelled noog , known also as niger seed ). [ 2 ]
Ethiopian cuisine mostly consists of breads, stews (known as Wat), grains, and spices. Typically, an Ethiopian meal consists of a combination of injera (flatbread) with different wats, yet each diverse cultural group has their unique variation. A typical snack would be baked small pieces of bread called dabo kollo or local grains called kollo. Pasta is frequently available throughout Ethiopia, including rural areas. [ 1 ] Coffee is also a large part of Ethiopian culture/cuisine, after every meal a coffee ceremony is enacted and espresso coffee is drunk.
Berbere , a combination of powdered chili pepper and other spices (somewhat analogous to Southwestern American chili powder ), is an important ingredient used in many dishes. Also essential is niter kibbeh , a clarified butter infused with ginger, garlic, and several spices.
Wat stews all begin with a large amount of chopped red onions , which simmer or is sauteed in a pot. Once the onions have softened, niter kebbeh (or, in the case of vegan dishes, vegetable oil ) is added. Following this, berbere is added to make a spicy keiy (Amharic: ቀይ ḳey , Tigrinya, Ge'ez: ቀይሕ ḳeyyiḥ ; "red") wat , or may omit the berbere for a milder alicha wat or alecha wat (Amharic: አሊጫ ālič̣ā ). In the event that the berbere is particularly spicy, the cook may elect to add it before the kibbeh or oil so the berbere will cook longer and become milder. Meat such as beef ( siga , Ge'ez: ሥጋ śigā ), chicken (Amharic: ዶሮ dōrō , Tigrinya: ደርሆ derhō ), fish (Amharic: asa ), goat or lamb (Amharic: beg , Tigrinya በግዕ beggiʻ ) is added; legumes such as split peas (Amharic: ክክ kik , Tigrinya: ክኪ kikkī ) or lentils (Amharic: ምስር misir , Tigrinya: ብርስን birsin ); or vegetables such as potatoes ( dinich , Amharic: ድንች dinič , Tigrinya ድንሽ diniš ), carrots and chard (Tigrinya: costa ) are also used in wat .
Tibs
Meat or vegetables are sautéed to make tibs (also tebs , t'ibs , tibbs , etc., Ge'ez ጥብስ ṭibs ). Tibs is served normal or special, "special tibs" is served on a hot dish with vegetables (salad) mixed in. The mid-18th century European visitor to Ethiopia, Remedius Prutky , describes tibs as a portion of grilled meat served "to pay a particular compliment or show especial respect to someone." [ 3 ]
Kitfo
Another distinctive Ethiopian dish is kitfo (frequently listed as ketfo ), which consists of raw (or rare) ground beef marinated in mitmita (Ge'ez: ሚጥሚጣ mīṭmīṭā , a very spicy chili powder) and niter kibbeh . Gored gored is very similar to kitfo , but uses cubed, rather than ground, beef.
Breakfast
Firfir or fitfit , (Ge'ez: ፍርፍር firfir ; ፍትፍት fitfit ) made from shredded injera with spices, is a common breakfast dish. Another popular breakfast food is dulet (Ge'ez: ዱለት dūlet ), a spicy mixture of tripe , liver, beef, and peppers with injera. Fatira consists of a large fried pancake made with flour, often with a layer of egg, eaten with honey. Chechebsa (or kita firfir ) resembles a pancake covered with berbere and kibbeh , or spices, and may be eaten with a spoon.
Snacks

Kolo is a roasted barley snack food often served in a paper cone. [ 1 ] Snacking on Popcorn is also common. [ 1 ]
Beverages
Coffee ceremony in Harar
Tej is a potent honey wine, [ 1 ] similar to mead , that is frequently served in bars (in particular, in a tej bet ; Ge'ez ጠጅ ቤት ṭej bēt , "tej house"). katikala and araki are inexpensive local spirits that are very strong.
Tella is a home-brewed beer served in bars, which are also called "buna bets" (coffee houses).
Coffee ( buna ) holds a legitimate claim as originating from Ethiopia, [ 1 ] where it is a critical component of the economy [ 4 ] and is a central part of Ethiopian beverages. Equally important is the coffee ceremony which accompanies the serving of the coffee, which is sometimes served from a jebena (ጀበና), a clay coffee pot in which the coffee is boiled. The preparer roasts the coffee beans, then walks around the room so participants may sample the scent of coffee. Then the preparer grinds the coffee using a traditional tool called a mokecha . The coffee is put in to the jebena, boiled with water, and then served with small cups called si'ni . Coffee is usually served with sugar but is also served with salt in many parts of Ethiopia. Snacks such as popcorn or barley may be served with the coffee. In most homes a dedicated coffee area is surrounded by fresh grass, with special furniture for the coffee maker. A complete ceremony has three rounds of coffee (Abon, Tona Bereka) and is accompanied by the burning of frankincense .
Ambo is a bottled carbonated mineral water, sourced from the town of Ambo. [ 1 ]
Serving style
A mesob (Ge'ez: መሶብ mesōb ) is a tabletop on which food is traditionally served. The mesob is usually woven from straw, and has a lid kept on it until the mealtime. Just before the food is ready, a basin of water and soap is brought out for hand-washing. When the food is ready, the top is taken off the mesob and the food is placed in the sunken top of the mesob. When the meal is finished, the basin of water and soap is brought back out for hand-washing again.
Gurage dishes
Location of Ethiopia
Gurage cuisine additionally makes use of the false banana plant ( enset , Ge'ez: እንሰት inset ), a type of ensete . The plant is pulverized and fermented to make a bread-like food called qocho or kocho (Ge'ez: ቆጮ ḳōč̣ō ), which is eaten with kitfo. [ 5 ] The root of this plant may be powdered and prepared as a hot drink called bulla (Ge'ez: ቡላ būlā ), which is often given to those who are tired or ill. Another typical Gurage preparation is coffee with butter ( kebbeh ).
The most popular Gurage main dish is kitfo. Gomen kitfo is another dish prepared in the occasion of mescel , a very popular holiday marking the discovery of the True Cross . Collard greens (ጎመን gōmen ) are boiled, dried and then finely chopped and served with butter, chili and spices.
Goorsha
A goorsha is an act of friendship. As stated above, a person uses his or her right hand to strip off a piece of injera , roll it in the wat or kitfo , and then put the rolled injera into his or her mouth. During a meal with friends, a person may strip off a piece of injera, roll it in the sauce, and then put the rolled injera into a friend's mouth. This is called a goorsha , and the larger the goorsha, the stronger the friendship. [ 6 ]
http://translate.google.com/....../translate
Bucătărie etiopian şi eritreean bucătăria caracteristic format din legume condimentate si preparate din carne, de obicei sub forma de Wat (sau wot), o tocană de gros, a servit deasupra injera , o mare Aluat Flatbread [1] , care este de aproximativ 50 de centimetri (20 inci) în diametru şi a făcut din fermentate teff făină. [1] etiopieni mânca cu mâinile lor drept, folosind piese de injera pentru a ridica muscaturi de intrări şi garnituri. [1] vasa sunt rar folosite cu acest fel de mâncare.

Biserica Ortodoxă din Etiopia prevede un număr de post (tsom Ge'ez: ጾም SOM) perioadele, inclusiv miercuri, vineri, şi întregul Postului Mare sezon, bucataria astfel etiopian contine multe feluri de mâncare, care sunt vegetariene ( Amharic : voi-tsom የጾም ye-Som , tigrinya : ba-tsom ናይጾም nay-SOM). Acest lucru a condus, de asemenea, bucătari din Etiopia pentru a dezvolta o gamă bogată de surse de ulei de gătit: în afară de susan si floarea soarelui , bucătărie etiopian, de asemenea, utilizări nug . (noog, de asemenea, scris, de asemenea, cunoscut ca seminţe Niger) [2]
Tipuri de preparate din bucătăria etiopian
Bucătăria etiopian cea mai mare parte constă în pâine, fierturi (cunoscut sub numele de Wat), cereale, şi condimente. De obicei, o masă etiopian constă dintr-o combinaţie de injera (Flatbread) cu wats diferite, dar fiecare grup divers cultural are variaţia lor unice. O gustare tipic ar fi coapte bucati mici de paine numite DABO Kollo sau boabe locale numite Kollo. Paste este frecvent disponibil în întregul Etiopia, inclusiv în zonele rurale. [1] Cafeaua este, de asemenea, o mare parte a culturii etiopian / bucătărie, după fiecare masă o ceremonie de cafea este adoptată şi de cafea espresso este beat.

Berbere , o combinaţie de pudra ardei iute şi alte mirodenii (oarecum analog la sud-vest american praf de chili ), este un ingredient important folosit în multe feluri de mâncare. De asemenea, esenţial este azotat de potasiu kibbeh , un unt clarificat infuzat cu ghimbir, usturoi, condimente şi mai multe.

Wat tocane toate incep cu o cantitate mare de rosii tocate ceapa , care se fierbe sau se sotate într-o oală. Odată ce au înmuiat ceapa, azotat de potasiu kebbeh (sau, în cazul de feluri de mâncare vegetariene, ulei vegetal ), se adaugă. După aceasta, Berbere se adaugă pentru a face o keiy picant (Amharic: ቀይ cheie, tigrinya, Ge'ez: ቀይሕ ḳeyyiḥ, "roşu") Wat, sau poate omite Berbere pentru o mai uşoară alicha Wat sau Wat alecha (Amharic: አሊጫ ālič̣ā ). În cazul în care Berbere este deosebit de picant, bucătar poate alege să o adăugaţi înainte de kibbeh sau ulei, astfel Berbere vor găti mai mult şi să devină mai blânde. Carnea , cum ar fi carne de vită (Siga, Ge'ez: ሥጋ Siga), pui (Amharic : ዶሮ DORO, tigrinya: ደርሆ derhō), peşte (Amharic: ASA), capră sau de miel (Amharic: beg, tigrinya በግዕ beggi), se adaugă, leguminoase , cum ar fi divizat mazăre (Amharic: ክክ Kik, tigrinya: ክኪ kikkī) sau linte (Amharic: ምስር Misir, tigrinya: ብርስን birsin); sau legume , cum ar fi cartofii (dinich, Amharic: ድንች dinič, tigrinya ድንሽ Dinis), morcovi şi Chard (tigrinya: Costa) sunt, de asemenea, utilizate în wat.
Tibs
Carne sau legume sunt sote de a face Tibs (dar şi tebs, t'ibs, Tibbs, etc, Ge'ez ጥብስ Tibs). Tibs este servit normale sau speciale, "Tibs de construcţii", este servit pe un platou cald cu legume (salata) amestecat inch vizitatorilor mijlocul secolului al 18-lea european în Etiopia, Remedius Prutky , descrie Tibs ca o porţiune de carne la gratar servit "să plătească un compliment special sau deosebit arate respect pentru cineva ". [3]
Kitfo
Un alt fel de mâncare distinctiv etiopian este kitfo (adesea menţionată ca ketfo), care constă din carne de vită prime la sol (sau rar), marinate în mitmita (Ge'ez: ሚጥሚጣ mīṭmīṭā, un praf de chili foarte picant) şi kibbeh azotat de potasiu. Gored gored este foarte similar cu kitfo, dar foloseşte cubica, mai degrabă decât la sol, carne de vită.
Mic dejun
Firfir sau fitfit , (Ge'ez: ፍርፍር firfir; ፍትፍት fitfit) a făcut din tocata injera cu condimente, este un fel de mâncare mic dejun comun. O alta mancare de mic dejun popular, este dulet (Ge'ez: ዱለት dūlet), un amestec picant de burta ., ficat, carne de vită, ardei şi cu injera Fatira constă într-un mare prajit clatita făcute cu făină, de multe ori cu un strat de ou, consumate cu miere. Chechebsa (sau Kita firfir) seamana cu o clatita acoperit cu Berbere şi kibbeh, sau condimente, şi poate fi mancata cu o lingura.
Gustări
Kolo este un prăjiţi orz gustare alimente servit adesea într-un con de hârtie. [1] Snacking pe Popcorn este, de asemenea, comune. [1]
Băuturi
Ceremonia de cafea din Harar
Tej este un vin puternic miere, [1], similare cu mied , care este frecvent servit în baruri (în special, într-un pariu Tej; Ge'ez ጠጅ Tej ቤት pariu, "Tej casa"). katikala şi Araki sunt spirite ieftine locale care sunt foarte puternice.
Tella este o bere produsa acasă-a servit, în baruri, care sunt, de asemenea, numite "pariurile Buna" (case de cafea).
Cafea (Buna), deţine o cerere legitimă ca fiind originar din Etiopia, [1], în cazul în care aceasta este o componentă esenţială a economiei [4], şi este o parte centrală a băuturilor etiopian. La fel de important este ceremonia de cafea care însoţeşte servire a cafelei, care uneori este servit de la un jebena (ጀበና), o cafea vas de lut în care cafeaua este fiert. Fripturi pregăteşte boabe de cafea, apoi merge în jurul valorii de cameră astfel încât participanţii pot eşantion mirosul de cafea. Apoi, macină preparator de cafea cu ajutorul unui instrument tradiţional numit mokecha. Cafeaua este pus in pentru a jebena, fiert cu apă, şi apoi a servit cu cupe mici, numite si'ni. Cafeaua este de obicei servit cu zahar, dar este, de asemenea, servit cu sare în multe părţi din Etiopia. Snacks-uri, cum ar fi floricele sau orz poate fi servit cu cafea. În cele mai multe case de-o zonă dedicată de cafea este înconjurată de iarbă proaspătă, cu mobilier special pentru filtru de cafea. O ceremonie completă a trei runde de cafea (Abon, Tona Bereka) şi este însoţit de arderea de tămâie .

AMBO este o apa imbuteliata minerale carbogazoase, provenite de la oraşul Ambo. [1]
stil de servire
Un mesob (Ge'ez: መሶብ mesōb) este o masă pe care produsele alimentare este servit in mod traditional. Mesob este, de obicei ţesute din paie, şi are un capac pastrat pe ea până la ora mesei. Chiar înainte de alimente este gata, un bazin de apă şi săpun este scos pentru spălarea mâinilor. Atunci când produsul alimentar este gata, în partea de sus este luată de pe mesob şi produsele alimentare este plasat în partea de sus a scufundat mesob. În cazul în care masa este terminat, bazinul de apă şi săpun este adus înapoi pentru spălarea mâinilor din nou.
mâncăruri Gurage
Locul de amplasare de Etiopia
Gurage bucătăria face în plus, uz de fals bananierul (enset, Ge'ez: እንሰት insert), un tip de ensete . Planta este pulverizat şi fermentat pentru a face un produs alimentar pâine, cum ar fi numit qocho sau kocho (Ge'ez: ቆጮ Koco)., care este consumata cu kitfo [5] radacina acestei plante pot fi sub formă de praf şi pregătit ca o băutură fierbinte numit bulă (Ge'ez: ቡላ Bulă), care este adesea dat celor care sunt obosit sau bolnav. Un alt preparat tipic este Gurage cafea cu unt (kebbeh).
Fel de mancare Gurage Cele mai populare principal este kitfo Gomen kitfo este un alt fel de mâncare preparat din data. mescel , o vacanţă foarte popular marcarea descoperirea Cruci . Collard verdeturi (ጎመን gōmen) sunt fierte, se usucă şi apoi tocate marunt si servit cu unt, chili si condimente.
Goorsha
Un goorsha este un act de prietenie. După cum sa menţionat mai sus, o persoană care foloseşte mâna lui sau a ei dreptul de a benzi de pe o bucată de injera, rola-l în Wat sau kitfo, şi a pus apoi injera laminate într-a lui sau gura ei. În timpul unei mese cu prietenii, o persoana poate benzi de pe o bucată de injera, rola-o în sos, şi a pus apoi injera laminate în gura unui prieten. Aceasta se numeşte o goorsha, şi cu atât mai mare goorsha, mai puternică prietenie. [6]

4 răspunsuri:
| MMihai a răspuns:

Vezi și
http://www.gonomad.com/features/0211/ethiopiafood.html
Food
Injera is the staple food of Ethiopia. It's flat,
spongy, bread made from tef, a gluten-free grain found only in the African Horn. It serves as both plate and utensils, and is even shredded into some salads. It's the love-it-or-hate-it part of Ethiopian cuisine as its distinctive sourdough-like taste is not for everyone. Varying grades of tef make different grades of injera.

Pureed spiced vegetables, chicken drumsticks, hard-boiled eggs, and/or fried meats arrive in little piles on a wide pancake of injera.
Diners are presented with another piece of injera, which they tear into small pieces (using their right hands only). The small pieces are used to consume the puddles of veggies ("wat") or piles of fried meat (sometimes "wat" or "tibs") on the plate of injera.
Vegetarians do well on Wednesdays and Fridays, when no meat is eaten. But they suffer the rest of the week when chicken, beef, lamb, and goat are standard dishes.
Tripadvisor hotel reviews
Vegetarians will find a great deal to eat during Ethiopian Lent in March and April, unless they travel in southeastern Muslim areas where Lent is not observed (but Ramadan is). Supermarkets in Addis are well supplied for self-caterers.
Kitfo is warmed meat that is raw. Most tourist literature advises against eating it for health reasons, but it is an integral part of Ethiopian cuisine and could be sampled at an upscale, reliable restaurant or hotel or at a US Ethiopian restaurant.
Kolo is a snack food that may be available during long bus journeys. It is roasted barley, often served in a paper cone. It tastes a bit like popcorn kernels, and popcorn is also a common Ethiopian snack.
Ethiiopia--original home of the coffee bean.
Drink
Tej is a honey wine, with a deceptively sweet taste that masksits high alcohol content.
It's available in bars frequented by men, while women drink it at markets and in restaurants.
Ambo is a ubiquitous, fizzy bottled mineral water, named for its source that is near the town of Ambo. Other soft drinks include western standards and freshly squeezed juices. Plain tap water is fine in Ethiopia, but avoid it to play it safe.

Coffee is as important to Ethiopians as it is to Americans. Perhaps more so. Ethiopia holds a credible claim to being the birthplace of coffee and highland-grown coffee is its biggest export. An entire ceremony has grown up around coffee, with beans being roasted and ground in front of the guest. Tea is common in lowland Muslim areas.

Helpful Hints
The meat found in many Ethiopian meals.
Western meals are available in larger towns, and pasta is often available even in rural areas. Addis Ababa features restaurants for all tastes and budgets, including Ristorante Castelli (fine Italian), Sangam (Indian), Tomaca (coffee), Burger Queen (burgers), and La Notre (European-style bakery/cafe). The Sheraton and Hilton feature upscale restaurants and Sunday brunches.
Find an Ethiopian restaurant near you. Recommended restaurants include Merkato in Los Angeles, Addis Ababa in Washington DC, and mescerem in New York. In traditional Ethiopian restaurants, meals are eaten around a mesob -- or short, colorful, woven table -- and water will be poured over your hands before the food is served. In the U.S., modern tables and chairs are more common in Ethiopian communities.

| MMihai a răspuns:

Http://www.latimes.com/......0781.story
By Harry Kloman, Special to the Los Angeles Times

July 14, 2011
When tourist James Barker had dinner at the home of his Ethiopian hosts, he knew he'd have to be polite and eat whatever indigenous cuisine they offered him. He didn't know it wouldn't be cooked.

Ethiopia is "a nation who generally live[s] on raw meat, and it cannot be supposed that they have made great advancement in their cuisine," the Briton wrote in "Narrative of a Journey to Shoa," an 1868 account of his Ethiopian odyssey.

Nearly a sesqui-century later, it looks like Barker was prescient. Ethiopian restaurants in America often tout their vegan options, and Ethiopians certainly appreciate their culture's vegetarian cuisine. But they relish meat even more, and if it's not a holiday fasting season, during which meat is forbidden, they hungrily embrace beef — sometimes cooked, sometimes not.

The recipe for raw beef hasn't changed much since Barker's visit. And how could it? Raw is raw, no preparation required. You melt some Ethiopian butter (niter kibe), combine it with freshly ground beef, toss in the requisite spices and voila, it's what's for dinner — a favorite Ethiopian dish called kitfo.

Unless, of course, you don't fuss with all of that. Just take some bite-sized chunks of raw beef, dip them into the red pepper paste awaze or the even hotter red pepper powder mitmita, and you're feasting on gored gored, most likely the no-frills meal that so repelled Barker.

The even simpler tere siga, or "raw meat," requires no preparation at all : Presented with long strips of meat, the gourmand uses a knife to cut off piece after piece. This ritual is called cu'wirt, from the Amharic word cu'warata, to cut.

Ayele Solomon, a businessman who lives in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, prefers to eat the most basic version, tere siga, so he can serve himself.

"The cutting is part of the ceremony," says Solomon. And besides, he adds, "you don't want someone else's filtHi hands touching it."

Solomon, an American citizen, was born in Ethiopia and lived in the Bay Area, where his family still lives, from ages 11 to 22. He remembers eating raw meat for the first time as an older teenager in his family's kitchen, where he "just grabbed a piece and put it into my mouth."

In Ethiopia, Solomon says, eating raw meat tends to be a "male thing" that guys might do together.

Ethiopian tere siga typically comes from grass-fed beef, Solomon says, which gives it a different flavor and texture. "In America, [the meat is] grain-fed, and it's more watery because they try to fatten the animal. In Ethiopia, the flavors are concentrated. An extreme example would be like eating a grape versus a raisin."

There's plenty of Ethiopian literature going back centuries to document dishes like tere siga and gored gored. But James McCann, a professor at Boston University and the author of "Stirring the Pot," a book about African cuisine, believes kitfo is a modern variant.

"Expatriate Ethiopians have lots of cultural myths that claim historical background," McCann says, "but they really only date from the Addis Ababa elite or upper-middle-class practice in the mid-20th century. Kitfo is a fairly recent addition to the urban diet. Raw beef cut in chunks or strips has been around for a long time."

Kitfo is the most common version of raw meat served at Ethiopian restaurants in the U.S. It came to the table from the Gurage people, who make up about 2.5% of the population of Ethiopia, a country with more than 80 indigenous languages.

Angeleno Berhanu Asfaw grew up in the Gurage town of Muher, Ethiopia, and he ate his kitfo raw from about the age of 5 or 6, when children are judge to be safe enough from the effects of parasitical worms and other food-born illnesses that they are first allowed to eat raw meat. At mescel, an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian holiday, children go from home to home, greeting the elders, and at each stop their hosts have kitfo prepared especially for them.

Now Asfaw serves kitfo and gored gored at Messob, the restaurant in Los Angeles' Little Ethiopia on Fairfax Avenue that he co-owns with his brother Getahun. The menu describes the beef as "lean" but doesn't mention raw, so his servers ask patrons how they want it. Non-Ethiopians usually like it to be cooked just a little, but Asfaw's Ethiopian customers prefer it raw.

Most of the city's Ethiopian restaurants offer kitfo, but like Messob, they don't all describe it as raw on their menus. If you want your kitfo slightly cooked — what Americans would call rare — ask for it lebleb. Fully cooked is yebesele.

Asfaw recommends lean cuts of meat, like top round, for raw beef dishes, and Messob grinds the meat for kitfo fresh, often right when it's ordered. "You can't even grind it and keep it the whole day and serve it in the evening," he says, because it loses its flavor.

At Selam Market and Deli on West Pico Boulevard, Samuel Mekonnen sells more meat for kitfo than for any other raw dish, and he grinds it fresh at his market's butcher shop. He too recommends very lean cuts like top round, ball tips or even the costlier rib-eye.

"If you try to eat soft meat as raw meat, it doesn't taste as good. It has to be firm," says Mekonnen, who co-owns the market with his wife, Amsalework Jemberu.

Mekonnen says women enjoy raw meat just as much as men do, although they tend to eat it more at family gatherings. When men gather at a tej bet — that is, a place that serves tej, the Ethiopian honey wine — women don't usually join them.

The traditional accompaniment for kitfo is gomen, or collard greens, and it always comes with a side of ayib, the soft Ethiopian cheese. Of course, you eat it all by hand with injera, the spongy Ethiopian sourdough flatbread that serves as plate and cutlery.

Among Gurages in Ethiopia, though, injera is a rare accompaniment. Gurage culture eats raw meat with qocho, a bread-like food made from the bark of the enset plant, a staple among many Ethiopian cultures. Enset is almost impossible to get in the U.S., so you won't find qocho at many restaurants. But it's become very popular back home, and some restaurants in the Washington, D.C., area now import fully prepared qocho to accompany their kitfo.

Asfaw enjoys tere siga in the U.S., but for health reasons he no longer eats it when he visits Ethiopia. He remembers talking to his grandfather back home about his culture's love of raw meat. The reasons, he learned, were both practical and primal.

"When they had different wars, a long time ago, it was just easier to kill something and eat tere siga," Asfaw recalls his grandfather telling him. "It also makes you more macho, and they like that. You have a lot of things that aren't cooked over there."

Kloman is the author of "Mesob Across America: Ethiopian Food in the U.S.A." and writes about the cuisine at ethiopianfood.wordpress.com.

food@latimes.com