Ethiopian Cuisine is So a Go

Last night, my friend Amy and I went to an Ethiopian place called The Blue Nile. It was a first-time-trying food night for both of us, and it freaking ruled.

Similar to Indian, but a hell of a lot more fun - the dishes are served communal-style from a single platter called a mosseb. The mosseb is covered by a large, round sheet of tangy, crepe-like bread called injera, and each item that you ordered is placed on top of that, with a scoop of buttermilk curd placed in the middle as kind of a palate cleanser, to cut through the spiciness. You use the injera, either the one on the mosseb (which is lovely and awesome, and flavoured by the dishes on top) or the one that comes on a separate place, to eat each dish, tearing off a piece to scoop up what you want to eat.

So delicious, I can't wait to go back.

I had the vegetarian combo, which let me sample five different dishes. Excellent. I like trying a mess of things when I try a new type of cuisine. So this is what I tried:

• Gomen - collard green sauteed with onions and peppers - my favourite thing of all
• Mesir wat - split lentil cooked with berbere (spicy red pepper sauce) and garlic
• Tikil gomen - cabbage cooked with onions and peppers - my close second favourite
• Shiro - spiced and milled chick peas cooked with onions
• Debinja - eggplant cooked with tomato, onion, perfectly spiced

I wish I had made an effort to try this all before, at the one, lone Ethiopian place in Toronto. And by that, I mean to shame Collin into finally giving in to his friends and going. Because, dude, you will freaking love it.