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Information supplied by the Bradt Guide To Ethiopia third edition For a good basic overview of the typical food of Ethiopia, see the Culture section of this website. Most of the main towns have a plethora of small restaurants to cater for the traveller and some good pointers are given in the Traveller's Guide of this website under each of the main tourist area sections. One or two other general matters might be of interest here. Meat in Ethiopia (outside of the more upmarket hotels and restaurants) should be eaten with a certain amount of trepidation. Certainly fresh beef in stews and lamb served as the delicious 'tibs' might well have been hanging unchilled for some time in the local butchers. The risk is yours! Chicken, more usually eaten when a guest in someone's home and served as 'doro wat', is a much safer option. It was almost certainly alive and running about that morning so the lack of a fridge is much less worrying. Likewise, fish eaten in the proximity of a lake such as at Bahar Dar is hopefully going to be a reasonably safe option. When in doubt, the vegetarian option, served as 'fasting food' and especially available on Wednesdays and Fridays, is usually wholesome and not too highly spiced, an advantage for those with less than cast-iron stomachs! During Lent, which is generally in March and April, the number of non-vegetarian options in restaurants decreases as Ethiopian Orthodox Christians don't eat meat at this time. Most towns will come up with other less Ethiopian items such as an omelette or a baked bean stew called 'fool'. Pasta is common on the plateau, served with either a meat sauce (Bolognese) or a tomato sauce (Neapolitan). Bread is found in most towns and can be delicious. Cakes, fruit juices and even ice cream are available, again in towns of a fair size in areas that receive travellers on a fairly regular basis. Bananas and oranges seem to be around for most of the year, with mangos, papayas, avocados and several other fruits available in season. 'Shai' (tea) is served sweet in little glasses. Coffee in various forms (try the small, sweet machiato) is also common. Take care with the local water. Stick, as a rule, to bottled water - Ambo is found everywhere. Alongside, the ubiquitous t'eller and t'ej (see Culture & Religion), bottled beers are remarkably good and cheap in Ethiopia, with 'draft' finding its way into more and more towns. v Have you signed our Guestbook? Email | Top
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