Blog #24: What Would Dylan Do?

Blog #1: Ethiopian Food

I was picking up my dry cleaning in Spring Valley the other day when I suddenly thought to myself, “Man, it’s been ages since I’ve had Ethiopian” and texted a friend to see if he’d like to go on Saturday. I said I’d do a little research and find a place but I knew it wouldn’t take long because I had recently found out that Spring Valley is where most of the Ethiopians in Las Vegas live! I was on the hunt for buttermilk and it took me four grocery stores to find one, lone bottle because it had been bought out for an Ethiopian holday and it’s food preparations. I had to laugh- I thought only Indians have buttermilk everyday! Anyhow, I digress. It was as if my thoughts were being read by the universe because lo and behold, there was an Ethiopian restaurant right beside the cleaners! I popped in to find out if I’d need a reservation for the following night, and I was greeted by smiles and an oddly modern, slightly late night feeling decor. The workers English was not good but I somehow equated that to how much more authentic the food must be. I wasn’t wrong there. You see, my family and I have been going to Ethiopian restaurants ever since I was a child. We’d take day trips from Fresno to Berkeley 4x a year and after buying Indian groceries and checking out the used casettes on Telegraph Hill, we’d land in “The Blue Nile” for a delicious, African meal. My mouth waters, thinking about the spongy injera bread and the bold flavors of berbere sauce. 

How many of you have ever tried Ethiopian food? Do you know how healthy it is? Do you know that the bread takes 2 days and 2 hours to make, and yet it comes free with every meal?!?! Do you know what you are missing out on if you haven’t exerienced this culinary delight? Not to mention, you’ll most likely spend way less on your meal than you would elsewhere and you will leave with a full, but not gross feeling. You know the difference.

Let me tell you about Ethiopian food. It’s communal. It’s filled with vegetarian options. It’s family style. It’s popping with flavor but not spicy. It’s good for you. The other thing is, it’s made with some ingredients that are very hard to find in the US! So, you should really go out and enjoy this cuisine in a restaurant and support this wonderful community!

We started our meal with beef sambusa, a delictately deep fried pastry, stuffed with perfectly seasoned beef and potatoes. My experienced palate noted flavors such as garlic, pepper, corainder, ginger and perhaps a touch of cumin. These came to the table piping hot out of the fryer and we had to fight our urge to devour them upon first sight. 

We decided to share the doro wat and the vegi combo for dinner. For those of you who are unfamilar, Ethiopian food always comes served on a large, round, spongy crepe called injera and a basket of this bread is also served in rolls that you unravel and use almost like a spoon to pick up the vegetables, lentils and meats on the main plate. The texture of this bread is so pleasing…there are almost no words. It has a slighly sour flavor and I’m not sure how to impress upon you that it SHOULD taste this way. 

My absolute favorite thing about this cuisine is the deep and flavorful berbere spice. What makes it so stand out is the ground and dried New Mexico chili. Beyond that, just think of every savory spice minus heat and herbs along with a touch of sweet spice (cinnamon and nutmeg) and you have yourself this magnificent concoction. It’s the main attraction of the doro wat (a chiken and boiled egg dish) that you cannot leave without trying.  Now, imagine an artists palette…all of the beautiful, brightly colored paints in small, textured dabs all across the circular thin slab. Picture the injera bread as this palette, housing the many, vibrant and tasty meats, lentils and salads in greens and mustards and reds,  just waiting to be shared and appreciated like the paints on the palette. It’s a lovley presentation that awakens the senses and evokes a feeling of community simply by the way it is served. One can hardly wait to rip off a pillowy piece of injera and dive in to the warm collard greens, the smoky doro wat and the soft, stewed lentils…or if one is brave enough, to combine them all in one bite! Being Indian American myself, I love a combination of flavors…it’s like a party in my mouth! 

As we sat reveling in how delicous and nutritious this meal was, our lovely server made sure to let us know that the injera was limitless, much like the joy of a bottmless mimosas at brunch!  That’s the bread that takes 2 days to make, by the way. Meanwhile, I payed $4 for a bread basket on Lake Las Vegas that came piled high….with crackers. Hmph. Think about that one for a second. We ate to our hearts content and still had enough leftovers for 2 more meals. I believe the total cost of this meal (and we each had a drink as well) was $57. What a steal for the variety and pleasure we got from this region’s mothwatering array of foods. 

When I was a kid, I recall hearing people say that curries looked gross. Sure, they’re often a hot, steamy brown mess. However, don’t judge a book by its cover. Let your nose lead the way….let the textures play on your tongue, let the flavors surprise and delight you. And trust me, go out there and try some Ethiopian food. It’s the closest thing you’ll get to experiencing East Africa in this desert oasis and it’s the best food you will have tried in a really long time. 

Restaurant:

Habesha Restaurant and Bar

Flamingo Jones Plaza

6182 W. Flamingo Rd. 

Las Vegas, NV 89103

Neighborhood: Spring Valley