Berns - Teff Love: Adventures in Vegan Ethiopian Cooking

ADVENTURES IN VEGAN ETHIOPIAN COOKING

Kittee Berns

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Berns, Kittee, author.

Teff love : adventures in vegan Ethiopian cooking / Kittee Berns.

pages cm

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-57067-311-5 (pbk.) ISBN 978-1-57067-887-5 (e-book)

1. Cooking, Ethiopian. 2. Vegetarian cooking. I. Title.

TX725.E84B47 2014

641.5963dc23

2014040191

Color photos: Alan Roettinger, Kittee Berns, Amy Gedgaudas
Food styling: Alan Roettinger, Kittee Berns
Cover and interior design: John Wincek

Printed on recycled paper

Book Publishing Co. is a member of Green Press Initiative. We chose to print this title on paper with post-consumer recycled content, processed without chlorine, which saved the following natural resources:

2015 Kittee Berns

Color photos 2015 Book Publishing Company

Other photos 123RF

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced by any means whatsoever, except for brief quotations in reviews, without written permission from the publisher.

, by Mesfin Hailemariam

For my double bubs,

Dazee and Vee.

This book couldnt have come at a better time. As global concerns about diet and its effects on human health and the environment are rapidly spreading worldwide, people everywhere are clamoring for change. Ethiopians, who only a few years ago associated veganism with religious fasting, have also been affected and influenced by this growing awareness. At the same time, the perceptions of Ethiopia are shifting from its legacy of famine and extreme poverty to its rich and exotic culinary heritage. Our tradition of healthful, wholesome, simple yet flavorful and hearty food has encouraged the proliferation of Ethiopian restaurants throughout North America and inspired countless people to try our traditional vegan dishes.

Ethiopians themselves are also gaining a greater awareness about vegan ethics and values. A dramatic development has been the opening of exclusively vegan restaurants in Ethiopia, which is an incredibly positive sign.

In 2008, when there were only a handful of vegans in Ethiopia, I helped establish Vegan Association Ethiopia. It was the first group in the country to champion veganism. Today we are joined by Vegan Ethiopia and International Fund for Africa (IFA). These fledgling organizations have worked tirelessly to spread the word about veganism despite being on a shoestring budget. We host conferences, provide video presentations, and leaflet on behalf of veganism. We educate restaurants and hotels about vegan food. And by partnering with Animals and Us, an Australiabased organization, we are able to provide textbooks, advocate humane education, and teach positive values to children through our Animals Friends school clubs.

I believe that every vegan has a responsibility to help educate others about veganism, and with this book, Kittee Berns has done more than her part. Teff Love is the delicious result of Kittees love and appreciation of Ethiopian food combined with her creativity, compassion, and commitment to vegan values. Its a vital, priceless gift to vegans and nonvegans alike.

I invite you to let Kittee take you on exciting culinary adventures and travel to Ethiopia by way of her spectacular recipes. Enjoy!

With love,

Mesfin Hailemariam (one of the first and few vegans of Ethiopia)

Founder and Director, Vegan Ethiopia

As a fledging vegan in the early nineties, I lived in the DC burbs, where restaurants specializing in all sorts of amazing cuisines abounded. I lived with friends who, like me, were interested in exploring delicious vegetarian food, cooking, and related adventures. We ate out as often as we could afford to, and we cooked at home a lot too. However, Ethiopian food was something we always enjoyed at restaurants instead of preparing it ourselves, even though it was everyones favorite.

It wasnt until I had my own apartment that I first tried my hand at Ethiopian cooking. I threw a small birthday party for a good friend, and made a few pots of veganized Ethiopian fare using recipes cobbled together from the nascent Internet and Sundays at Moosewood cookbook. The food turned out really good, but the best part was the fun we had eating it together from large platters with our hands.

When my partner, Dazee, and I moved to New Orleans in 2001, I started cooking Ethiopian dishes regularly. Dining out for vegan food in the Big Easy was a bit more difficult than the name implies, and finding Ethiopian food was even harder, so preparing it at home became a way to celebrate special occasions with lots of friends.

While my experience with and knowledge of Ethiopian food and cooking comes solely from a North American perspective, Im passionate about and excited by the cuisine and have thrown my heart and belly into learning as much about it as possible. Everything I know has been culled and pieced together from eating Ethiopian food from countless restaurants and food trucks in cities across North America, reading books about Ethiopia, spending hours scouring restaurant menus, going on grocery store treasure hunts, watching Amharic cooking videos, scrutinizing Ethiopian food photographs, and talking to anyone familiar with the cuisine.

If youve never had the opportunity to try Ethiopian food, or if you love it but dont know how to cook it, my hope is that these recipes will demystify it and help transform you into an Ethiopian cooking maven. And if you already have mad Ethiopian kitchen skills and know-how, Im pretty confident youll discover new and exciting recipes in this book that youve never seen or tasted before. I also hope this book will help promote and support the vegan community, wherever it may be, here and abroad.

Ethiopian food may seem exotic, mysterious, and maybe even a bit intimidating if youve never tried your hand at cooking it before. One of the reasons I wrote this book is to show how converting your kitchen into a virtual wot factory is surprisingly simple and grocery-store friendly to boot. Youll discover that most of these recipes are made from easy-to-find unprocessed ingredients, such as whole grains, legumes, vegetables, and spices. Theyre great for folks with food allergies or intolerances, since most of the recipes are also free of gluten, corn, and soy (or can be made so with easy adaptations).