http://poppingcherries.com/food/flavours-of-eritrea/
Flavours of Eritrea
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February 2, 2015
Did you know that the official language of Eritrea is Tigrinya and the second is Arabic?
I didn’t, until Friday night. We went to Mosob, a little restaurant tucked away in North West London owned by a delightful Eritrean family.
We were welcomed by aromas of lamb, berbere spices and incense. As we settled in, Ben the owner proceeded to let us know that ‘The first rule of the house is that you are not allowed to use your phones. Eating Eritrean food is a communal experience. We will keep it this way.’
Flicking through the menu was torture, I wanted to try everything. In the end we placed our fate into the hands of Ben who promised to delight our palettes – meat eating, vegetarian, curious, spicy. He had something for us all.
First thing on the menu were a selection of little rolls of Injera, flat bread, stuffed with spinach or beef or lentils. Try the spicy ones – an explosion in your mouth.
And then the feast was served. Look at that beauty. Dollops of scrumptious dishes served on a bed of injera.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMY193HL-yk
Four people shared each plate. There was the initial awkwardness as we tried to figure out how to eat with our hands and excusing ourselves as we leaned over to pick up food from the opposite end of the large dish, but in no time we licked our plate clean.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB1c13Svkx0
After our meal we ordered coffee. The coffee was roasted and brought to our table so we could inhale the charred earthy fumes. Ben explained that this ritual is repeated at any house you go to in Eritrea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H54YYsm8yEg
Then the coffee was served, in little clay jugs with shredded plastic in the spout to filter out the sediment. Originally this was horse hair but they’re not allowed to use that in London. Otherwise people use saffron which as you can guess is hard to source and quite expensive. Coffee so good, some of the best I’ve had in my life!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMbdR3hzWjQ
Then Ben came over to our table again carrying a large book with a picture of a city in the front and the word Asmara. He explained that this is the capital city of Eritrea and then challenged us to think of the other 13 capital cities whose names started and ended with the same letter. This had us us pondering, arguing and laughing for the rest of the night. It true hospitable fashion, he wrote all our names down in Tigrinya and handed them to us on cards.
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If you’re ever in the mood to try a new cuisine, I highly highly recommend Mosob. Ask for Sooley or her brother Ben, they’ll take good care of you. One if the best culinary experience I’ve ever had. I promise you, you won’t be disappointed!!
Received on Sun Feb 01 2015 - 14:51:42 EST
