I don’t think referring to Italians as Ethiopia’s colonizers is accurate or appropriate. Many (most?) Ethiopians are proud that their country is the only African country that was never formally colonized (the Battle of Adwa!). Maybe “attempted colonizers” is better.
5
On my trip to DC a few years ago, I took two cubs in one day and both drivers were Ethiopians. I said it was my lucky Ethiopian day and the second driver said that DC had Big Ethiopian community . I asked if he could recommend me an Ethiopian restaurant since I was out for dinner. He did and explain to the owner that it was my first time. They taught me how to eat it especially the injera bread. (it could be better if I wash my hands first thing...I did:). I loved the food and looked for it every time I got the chance in NYC. Now I’m in a look out for the food truck. Thanks for sharing.
Question: any place to get Malagasy( madagascar ) food in nyc?
3
I wish Ms. Gebre Egziabher the same success with Makina Cafe that Maron Ragassa has enjoyed here with his food cart and sometimes restaurant, Buraka. Over twenty years in business, one way or another, and he still has them lining up at lunchtime! He also offers rice for the injera-shy, and a peanut stew (chicken or vegetarian) for the Pan-Africanists, in addition to dorowot, misirwot, tibs and baris. And I see he is now offering a Friday fish fry at his current restaurant location (because, Wisconsin!), along with Carribbean-style Tiki drinks. The smaller the world, the wider the possibilities!
6
could the Times offer some of these recipes?
5
https://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/bread/recipe-injera.html
This article was the most interesting to me this week because I have a passion for food and they way it can tell a story about different cultures. In this article about an Ethiopian food truck, the owner provides a background of her life in Ethiopia and how her family was expelled from the country and eventually moved to the United States. Ethiopian food reminds the food truck owner of her childhood in Ethiopia, and she wants to share that with people in the United States.
I love everything about Ethiopian food - from the injera to the spicy berbere. Ethiopian food is meant to be shared together, with all the different dishes served atop the injera. Everyone shares the huge platter. An Ethiopian food truck is a break from tradition, but makes the delicious food accessible to more people. I think this is a great idea, and I would love to try it!
8
The photo that originally appeared with this on-line article showed a stack of rolled-up injera pieces that made my mouth water. (I lived in Ethiopia for a couple of years and visited again a couple more times, so I can pretty much taste injera and feel its unique texture just by looking at a picture of it.)
Yes, Ethiopian food has been available in NYC and many other US cities for decades, but this truck sounds as if it offers lots of fun and plenty of good eats. After reading this article I wanted to hop a plane to NYC just to track the truck down and have a bite.
8
Unlike Eritrea, Ethiopia was never colonized by Italy- or anyone else. They did invade in 1935 but never managed to take over the country.
10
Sorry to differ. The Italians occupied Ethiopia for a few years starting in 1935 and forced its leader, Emperor Haile Selassie, into exile in England. Ethiopia was under Italian rule during this period and many Italians settled there, though most left when Haile Selassie returned from England to rule Ethiopia again.
3
A military occupation does not translate to colonization. Language, customs, and infrastructure all remained the same. Ethiopians fought the Italian during those years. Eritrea on the other hand, has Italian speakers, mostly older generation. Asmara looks like an little Italian City with walkable streets and transportation.
3
Ethiopians were brave, but totally mismatched against the Italians, who used airplanes, howitzers, tanks and mechanized transport against Ethiopians who were barefoot or on horseback and armed with antiquated rifles, spears and swords.
Oct -Nov, 1935: Italy invades Ethiopia, is condemned and sanctioned by League of Nations.
May 2, 1936: Emperor Haile Selassie flees capital Addis Ababa for exile in UK.
May 5, 1936: Italians capture Addis Ababa.
May 7, 1936: Italy annexes Ethiopia.
May 9, 1936: King of Italy proclaimed Emperor of Ethiopia.
June 1, 1936: Italy merges Ethiopia with Eritrea and Italian Somaliland, creating Italian East Africa.
June 20, 1936: Haile Selassie asks League of Nations for help.
July 4, 1936: League of Nations drops all sanctions against Italy.
December 1936: Last remnants of Ethiopian army surrender.
1937 - 1940: Ethiopia is under Italian rule (annexation). Ethiopians continue sporadic resistance. Britain and France recognize Italian sovereignty over Ethiopia. Thousands of Italians settle in Ethiopia, build homes, roads, railways, dams, airports, businesses.
1941: Haile Selassie returns to Ethiopia, Italians defeated.
Italian influence was strong in Eritrea but spread all over Ethiopia. I lived and traveled in Ethiopia and found Italian-style homes and cafes with espresso machines in every city and town I visited. Soccer, introduced by Italians, is the Ethiopian equivalent of baseball. Happily, pizza never supplanted injera.
This is my favorite food truck ever. It makes my day when it parks in front of my office. The food is fantastic and the woman who works on the truck (in the photo) is friendly and efficient. I wish they would open a restaurant!
16
Kudos to Ms. Gebre Egziabher for introducing one more ethno-regional food variety to New York. The proprietrix has well accustomed herself to the habits of restaurant workers, as evidence by the tattoo on her left forearm (Slide 4).
8
This truck is not "introducing" anything to New York. Ethiopian and Eritrean food have been available in NYC since at least the 1980s, possibly earlier. Maybe not as long as in Washington, DC, which saw many restaurants open after Haile Selassie was ousted and the diplomats were unable to return home. But there was at least one restaurant (Blue Nile) on the Upper West Side; another, Abyssinia, in Soho on Grand Street, another, Meskerem, elsewhere--and those are just the ones we used to go to. There have been/are still others in Harlem. Places come and go, but the food is not unknown. And let's also not forget Marcus Samuelsson, who has been rediscovering his Ethiopian roots.
@ Suzanne Fass Upper Upper Manhattan
Thank you for correcting me. Truth to tell, I am not an enthusiast of Abyssinian-Ethiopean-Erithrean food.