Customer Reviews

Ethiopian Cooking in the American Kitchen

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Tizita has a worthy goal but falls short on providing high quality advice. The key to all Ethiopian food seems to be the elusive injere (enjera) and so far my kitchen has yet to produce anything like what you eat in commercial restaurants. I was hoping that this book would give great insight into this area. It unfortunately covers the process in two pages of the 66 page volume and barely touches on advice for what you might be doing wrong if your injera is not coming out right. The author spends a great deal of time telling you how wonderful Ethiopian cuisine is, and of her roots in learning the techniques from her mother and father (I think, maybe uncle). Unfortunately she does not pass those techniques on. The books does not even include a recipe for berbere, the spicy red pepper paste that dominates so many dishes. She suggests you buy berbere at your local Ethiopian grocery as well as several other ingredients. I would not recommend this book for more than a cursory reading; its not worth the price. It seems to be more like a pamphlet then a full book.

While the book is not extensive, the recipes are very practical for the American kitchen, requiring a minimum of exotic ingredients. Keeps Ethiopian cuisine from being too daunting to try.

I'm new to cooking Ethiopian food. I found this book made things simpler for me. I made many of the recipes and they were easy and came out well. I didn't attempt to make the injera, in my area we have enough Ethiopian markets that I can easily buy it. This is a good book as a basic starter, it doesn't go into a lot of depth.