The Ethiopian Experience
When I told my friends I had Ethiopian food for the first time this week, they all asked me, “Is it similar to Indian food?”. And the answer is no – it is not.
Having been (lucky enough to go) to Bhutan before, Ethiopian food is similar to Bhutanese or Nepalese cuisine. But I’m sure even that doesn’t satisfy the majority of people’s curiosity of what Ethiopian food is like.
While Ethiopian food consists mostly of spices, stews, and grains like Indian cuisine, Ethiopian dishes are much more toned down in comparison. It’s quite a simple, but flavorful cuisine.
My friend and I went to Kaffa Crossing, which is located pretty close to the Penn campus (scroll to the bottom for restaurant information). It’s a small and homey.
Our first bite of Ethiopian food was of the sambusa. It is more or less a samosa (for those of you familiar with Indian cuisine), a fried pastry filled with vegetables.
We ordered one meat dish of lamb and one vegetable platter for our entree. It was only within a good 10-15 minutes of eating when we realized the vegetables and meat dish were placed on the same place for us to eat!
How Ethiopian food works – all meats and sides (our vegetable platter order) are placed in one large plate on top of injera, a spongey flat bread. You are given an additional plate of injera that you create a wrap out of by combining all the different components.
The spiced lamb in combination with sour, pickled cabbage with warm lentils, beans, chopped collared greens and potatoes, all wrapped in the injera gave a variety of different flavors that I never got bored of, no matter how much of it I ate.
And more than the food, Ethiopian food is all about the experience. You tear your piece of injera, taste what components go good with what, and eat with your hands (we used forks but it was a rookie’s excuse- it’s really all about the learning of Ethiopian culture through food at the authentic Kaffa Crossing.
Penn students are surrounded by a limitless number of various cuisines; we just need to find the gems.
-Carolyn Koh
Kaffa Crossing
4423 Chestnut St.
Open Sun-Fri 10AM-9PM & Sat 10AM-10PM
215-386-0504