Thursday, January 11, 2007

Horn of Plenty

"Eat your way around the world in London" ventured forth last night for the first time in 2007, and loosened its belt at ASMARA an Eritrean restaurant in Coldharbour Lane that we had noticed last year when we went to Panzon nearby.

Completely unfamiliar with the food from the horn of Africa, we ordered the Messob meat dinner, which consisted according to my scribbled notes of zegni, dullet, minchey-abis, kulwa, durho, spinach and vegetables.

We were then presented with a huge platter covered with injera - a flat bread or pancake similar to a south Indian appam - onto which all the generally unfamiliar dishes listed above, generally dryish spicy stews - were separately placed, and then we were shown how to scoop the treats up with strips torn from the flatbread.

This is how Eritreans, Ethiopians and Somalis prefer to dine, and I couldn't help but wish silently for a world in which they could socialise over injera rather than interminably making war on each other.

We finishsed with Jebena; fresh roasted coffee served with smoking incense and a bowl of warm popcorn! Each to his own I suppose.

More novelty in one meal than we have had in ages. Follow the links for our real and imaginary destinations.

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