Last Friday night I was able to attend the class dinner at the Ethiopian restaurant Major. This was the first time that I have ever been to an Ethiopian restaurant or tried food from this culture. I thought that it was a very interesting experience and I gained a lot from being able to attend this event. It was definitely something out of my comfort zone, but it was really neat.
When we first got to the restaurant I was kind of fascinated by the all of the decoration. The place was pretty small and not really fancy, but there were tons of decorations that depicted Ethiopia. There were pictures that showed women preparing food, communities coming together to eat, and even a chart of the alphabet in Ethiopia. I thought that it was neat to see all of the pictures and the other decorations that gave a glimpse into the ties between community and food in that culture. The man that owns the restaurant was also able to give us an idea of what food means in Ethiopian culture. He told stories about how the food was traditionally prepared as compared to how it was prepared in the restaurant. He also explained a lot of the images to us, letting us know what was happening in them and why they were significant. I appreciated his eagerness to help us understand part of the culture he came from. One of the things that really caught my attention was one of the stories he told about starting a meal. He said that in Ethiopia it is tradition to feed someone you love before you feed yourself. It was important to be sure to give a bite of food to a loved one before you took your own bite. This was a way to show someone that you care for them and appreciate them. I thought that this was a really interesting and heartwarming tradition. It’s a small gesture, but it’s something that is very sweet with a lot of meaning. It was cool to be able to hear it. Before going to the restaurant I was a little nervous. I’m a very picky eater and I don’t like to try a lot of new foods, especially dishes that I’ve never even heard of. Because of this I was pretty wary of the whole situation, but I tried my best to go into it with an open mind. I decided to get a dish with chicken and rice. I thought that it was okay. It definitely wasn’t my favorite food, though. It was kind of bland and it also had a lot of onions in it that I did not appreciate. I did like the red pepper hot sauce that was provided to the table, though. The dishes here were also served with injera. This was a kind of spongy, pancake-like bread. I gave this a try, but I was not a fan. It was interesting, but the texture and coldness of the injera was not my cup of tea. I think that my favorite part of the night was the coffee ceremony. I really enjoyed this. We were served traditional Ethiopian coffee out of a clay pot and all. I thought that this was super interesting. The restaurant owner showed us every step of preparing the coffee. The coffee ceremony also came with popcorn and frankincense. Popcorn is one of my favorite snacks and I left smelling like a Christmas tree, so I liked this part of the dinner! I’m not a huge coffee drinker, but I enjoyed the coffee and the ceremony that went with it. Besides learning about the food and culture of Ethiopia, I also thought that this experience was good for the class. It was nice to spend a night with classmates chatting and experiencing something new. I don’t usually see the other LEA 100 students outside of class time, so I thought this was a good way to all get together and have a nice time. Overall, although I wasn’t a huge fan of the actual food, I thought that this was a very interesting and informational night that was also a lot of fun! |
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