Posts Tagged ‘Almaz’
Veg Day on Y&H: A Postscript
The seasonal pumpkin-tapioca dessert at New Kam Fong
From the look of things, y’all have a strong interest in vegetarian food. Yesterday, the Y&H blog had some of its highest traffic numbers ever for a Monday, which, of course, is not why we do these kind of themed days. We do them in the name of dietery balance, the environment, human health, and the animals!
OK, sure, we also do them for the traffic.
Regardless, you seemed to enjoy the change of pace, even on the weekly Y&H newsletter, which yesterday was similarly devoted to veg eats. (You can sign up for the newsletter on the right, if you’d like.) One reader, Caroline, e-mailed to say:
Thank you so much for devoting this week’s newsletter to vegetarian/vegan dining! My boyfriend is a vegan and I am a carnivorous foodie. I almost lost it on Sunday morning when we couldn’t find a vegan pancake mix at Whole Foods. Keep the veg/vegan articles coming and maybe someday I’ll be able to go out on a date with him someplace other than Chipotle!
If you aren’t a newsletter subscriber you missed a number of other veg options that Y&H has recently highlighted, like the following:
The Unusual Economics of Almaz’s Gondar Fine Dining Service
Mike and Elizabeth Bober, Y&H’s friends over at Capital Spice, were the ones to introduce me to the Gondar Fine Dining service at Almaz, the subject of this week’s column.
On their blog, the husband-and-wife team have posted a bite-by-bite break down of our dinner together at Almaz, and I think, between our two pieces, you get a good idea of what to expect with the Gondar service. Their recap, in particular, includes one moment that I had wanted to write about, too (but ran out of space!):
We made a tactical error when our servers came by to inquire about what we enjoyed most: we answered. In short order, we found ourselves facing another helping of each of our favorite dishes. Next time, we’ll know to keep quiet – or offer our compliments with an apology that we’re too full for seconds.
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Why Do Ethiopians Eat So Much Raw Meat?
You likely know about kitfo, the finely chopped beef mixed with spiced Ethiopian butter and served with awaze or a berbere spice blend or fresh crumbled cheese. (Or perhaps all three at once.) If you’re lucky — and don’t look like a total Anglo wimp — the Ethiopian restaurant at which you’ve ordered kitfo will serve it to you raw. If you do look like a total Anglo wimp (and I’m looking at you in the mirror, my man), you will have to practically beg to have it served raw.
Kitfo, of course, isn’t the only raw meat offered in Ethiopian cooking (or non-cooking). There’s also tere saga, sometimes known as kurt, but that is much harder to find in U.S. Ethiopian restaurants. I’ve only seen it at Abay Market and Meaza. But back in Ethiopia, tere sega is considered a traditional ceremonial dish, often seen at weddings.
I mention these two dishes as prelude to a question I hadn’t thought about until this week: Why do Ethiopians eat so much raw meat? The question was raised to me by Jabriel Ballentine, a native of the Virgin Islands who’s doing some consulting work for Almaz on U Street. He knew the answer.
