Customer Reviews

Exotic Ethiopian Cooking : Sociey, Culture, Hospitality, and Traditions. Revised Extended Edition. 178 Tested Recipes. With Food Composition Tables.

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Over all, this is a good cookbook for an experienced general cook or someone who already knows a lot about Ethiopian cooking. Some of the recipes are very good (e.g., Yemiser Kik W'et and Doro W'et are both good) but the instructions are generally poor. Unless you already know what a dish should taste like or look like, you will be left mystified by instructions like those for Injera (made from T'ef), which tell you to "cover and let stand still till the mixture rises." Given that the consistency you're looking for with an injera batter is close to a crepe or pancake batter, knowing how long it takes to rise is totally necessary unless you know what a risen pancake batter should look like. Even an experienced bread baker might need a little more instruction here.

There is also insufficient explanation for why you must do some of the things you do (e.g., boiling 1 cup of the Injera mixture and then cooling it and putting it back into the original pot, to which you then add more water). It would be nice to know why some of the steps must be taken, since some of the recipes seem to be written for a chef who is beginning at the very beginning (like with whole t'ef grain, rather than with te'f flour, for example).

All in all, I think this might be the best ethiopian cookbook available, and is well worth it for those, like me, who want to explore this fantastic cuisine and don't have access to a knowledgeable friend or co-worker.

I have used this book extensively over the past five years, preparing several of the recipes from its contents. I find this cookbook to be among the best I possess with only two cautionary details:

1. A few recipes reference the use of rue in their ingredient lists. Rue, as cited on page 244 in "Exotic Ethiopian Cooking" is an herb given the botanical name Ruta graveolens, a toxic plant. Though its use in food preparation and homeopathic medicines is widely known; symptoms from poisoning may include dermatitis, gastro-enteritis, vomiting, convulsion and even death. Use reasonable judgment; educate yourselves on the use this herb and its toxicity before making a decision to include rue in preparation of these recipes.

2. Instructed measurements in a very few of the recipes seem to be quite disproportionate; exercise your own personal taste and judgment in preparation.

"Exotic Ethiopian Cooking" is more than just a cookbook; it is descriptive of culture and traditional food preparation which helps to bring to the reader a greater experience than simply satisfying his or her culinary desires. I also appreciate that this book has a great deal of nutritional information for ingredients such as t'ef and qoch'o for which one would not usually find a Nutrition Facts label.

I grew up in Ethiopia and desired to make this delicious food. After acquiring this book, I have fed my family many dishes from it.

The recipes are easy to understand and the directions a breeze to follow. All the ingredients can be bought at an Ethiopian store or the regular grocery store. There are recipes to make basic ingredients such as Berberi, used to cook chicken, beef, & lamb as well as legumes. Also recipes to make the spiced butter and oils that are basic ingredients in every dish.

I love this book. I hope you will write another so I can learn more.

Ethiopian food is of the best and most complicated cuisines in the world. This book is a great introduction and guide. I am writing this review because I read a review that said that this book did not have enough detail. The recipes for Injera (the Ethiopian staple bread) are the only ones that I have ever tried that actually work. If you have any doubt about what the finished product should look like, just check out the many great color photos in the book! If every country in the world had a Daniel Mesfin writing books about its cooking and culture, the world of cookbooks would be much more fascinating than it is. If you have never tried Ethiopian food, find a restaurant in your state. Then buy this book and start cooking for yourself. The book contains contact information for businesses that sell Ethiopian ingredients. This is an awesome book.

Having lived in DC and now Seattle, Ethiopian restaurants are cheap, plentiful and delicious. I've had this book for a number of years without having cooked from it, but finally decided to give it a try.

The results were good in some places, not-so-good in others. I made Tibs Wet (spicy fried beef), Zigni Wet (spicy ground beef stew), Gomen Besiga (collard greens), and Nitir Qibe, the spiced butter that is the foundation of this cuisine. Injera made with teff was bought from the store, as was berbere (pepper-based spice mix).

The Tibs were excellent, just like I get in so many restaurants. But only because I was able to adjust from mistakes made following the Zigni (ground beef) Wet recipe. The ground beef recipe overstated the amount of berbere by about 15-20%, the butter at least 50-100% or more. The Gomen was pretty bad - even though I had cut the butter (from previous recipes) the recipe called for way too much red onion, which overpowered the collards and ruined the taste. If it weren't for all my experience eating Ethiopian and cooking Punjabi Indian cuisine (similar spices and methods), this meal would have been a lost cause.

I am grateful there is at least one Ethiopian cookbook out there, even if the recipes need some serious tweaking to be usable. There is considerable info on Ethiopian culture - both well researched and enjoyable to read. If you're going to cook from these recipes, add your berbere sparingly at first (50-60%) and adjust to taste. Use perhaps 20-25% of the spiced butter to start and work your way up if needed.

As for the lack of cooking instructions - if you've ever eaten in an Ethiopian restaurant you will understand this is a cook-by-feel cuisine, with little actual measuring, largely taught by domestic cooks (mostly women) to their children. Yes, this is hard to work with if you're used to recipes, but I think it proves the book's authenticity. It's hard enough to find the ingredients for this cuisine, let alone cookbooks. If the author would test the recipes more thoroughly, we could have real winner.

This cookbook is good as it is the only Ethiopian cookbook out there. However, the "tested" recipes are NOT tested. For example, the recipe for gomen calls for 1 pound of collard greens and 1 pound of butter. Some recipes call for 1 cup of berbere, which is about 90% cayenne pepper! Use these recipes as a starting point, but think about every measurement before you add the ingrediends or else you'll find the food too greasy or too spicy.

I have owned this cookbook for many years. I love Ethiopian food and eat it whenever I can afford to eat out at my local Ethiopian restaurant.

I also love cookbooks and use them often, both to recreate childhood favorites and to explore new cuisines.

I have, however, never managed to cook anything from this book. I find the instructions confusing and somehow the presentation makes it all seem so daunting.

The cultural and traditional notes are fascinating and easy to read, though.

I grew up in several places in Ethiopia and missed this marvelous food when my family returned to the States. This book has been very helpful to me in recreating the dishes I loved as a child.

As to the actual recipes ... Ethiopian cooks generally cook by feel and sight. There are no cups and teaspoons in their huts, so following the recipes to the teaspoon in this book is not recommended. If you are trying to cook for only one, many of these recipes are for six or eight or even more. Cut down on the Spiced butter and the onions if you don't like that many; add more black cumin (which is actually nigella seed used in Indian cooking and can be bought cheaply at Ishopindian.com), cardamon, fenugreek or anything else you might like. The recipes are really guidelines as Ethiopians use what they have at any given time.

Over the years I have tested and tasted my recipes, using this book as a starting point. Strangely, the only thing I haven't been able to get to work for me is the Injera recipe. Since I live near Seattle, I can buy very good injera, so that's okay.

I highly recommend this book for everyone. I need another one. My first one is falling apart!

I've been looking for a great Ethiopian-only cookbook for a while. This isn't quite it. The recipes are tempting, but most require a lot of math to make them work for smaller kitchens. One example is the recipe for berere, a spice mix used in many of the foods. The quantities of ingredients this book calls for would leave a 4 person home with enough spice for a lifetime! One plus is the multiple recipes for Injera, the traditional flat bread used as "silverware" to eat stews, etc. There are several options depending on the flour you want to use. I'm still looking for an all-Ethiopian cookbook which is convenient for small gatherings and families.

Most good Ethiopian dishes are reliant on a subtle melange of spices and flavors. This is at times hard to master. This book offers a straight forward way of understanding this complex mix.

It is the most complete catalog of original Ethiopian recipes available today. The recipes are precise and give you the classic version of most Ethiopian dishes.

It may be a bit complex for beginner cooks, but with a little effort and lots of time :), you will be able to replicate most of the classic Ethiopian dishes.