I will start from the present and move backwards to tell the latest of this incredible trip. Today I am opting out on a trip to the countryside so that I can write.
My Addis posse has increased by four. A few days ago two journalists, Matt and Ted, and two photographers, Bobby and Christian arrived to do a story for Travel and Leisure. Hannah and I met them at the Sheraton hotel and we waited for Worka and Marcus. Our program for the day was packed. We headed off in two cars to "Merkato," the biggest open market in Africa. We went to look at berbere, honey and tej. A body guard armed with a pistol accompanied us. We had strict instructions to come empty-handed and in the plainest clothes possible. Marcus says Merkato is where the shadiest of the shady reside in Addis. We drove to Merkato, parked and stuck together as we walked.
Merkato looks like a favela district. Small, fragile looking, yet sturdy shops (which also serve as homes) are tightly packed together. The roofs are made of tin and are varying colors of rusty brown, black or steel. The dusty streets and narrow passages are teeming with people of all ages, chickens, sheep, goats, dogs and flies.
The shops sell everything from colorful plastic pitchers, boxes, cloth, salt, jewelry, spices, nuts and bolts, to chickens, tej and ingera baskets. People stand behind their small vendors or have their goods strewn across the middle of the passage-ways. People stared at us since it was clear some of us were foreign. Children cried, "youyouyouyouyouyouy!" Or the more familiar "Farenge," which means foreigner. Some said "what's up?"
We went to a berbere shop where the famous spice so essential to Ethiopian cuisine is made. Berbere is a red powder consisting of ground dried peppers, ginger and a few other spices that I can't remember. Sorry, will get exact recipe and post it. The shop was dark, with just a small square opening of light in the ceiling. The men ground the spices into powder with what looked like giant coffee bean grinders. They wore overalls and one piece jumpers covered in red powder. As soon as we entered the space we sneezed. The men working there seemed unaffected as they packed the whole spices into the four machines to be ground. We took photos of the workers and the mountains of red berbere spice.
Our next stop was to a honey shop. This place was also dark inside with just a hint of light beaming in from an open air sky light. The walls were blue and a small poster of Saint Michael looked over kilos of bagged honey which was almost orange and thick as mud.
After the honey shop we set out to find a tej house. Tej is the honey wine that Ethiopia is famous for. I had had tej in New York at Ghenet restaurant and loved it. Little did I know that the tej in Ethiopia is a very different version. We walked for what seemed like an hour, in big streets, small passage ways, asking people along the way until finally we found our spot.
The tej bar was cloaked in darkness. The walls were a light green. The ceilings were high, the benches and tables, also light green, were low to the ground. Men, who looked older - over fifty, sat and drank their tej. Each person in the bar looked like they should be the subject of a photographic essay. There was a man who came in wearing a slightly tattered beige trench coat (it was easily 70 degrees outside), button down shirt, dark pants and a huge, wide-brimmed baby blue cowboy hat with the words Marlboro on the front. A man in a doctor-like vest came around holding a big blue kettle in one hand and poured our tej into small flower vase bottles that he held in the other hand. We downed our tej in delight. The flavor was yeasty, sweet, herbal, earthy and citric. The color was like Tang or Sunny Delight or some kind of filtered orange juice. Tej is made of hops, honey, water and perhaps something else. (I will post the exact recipe of this delicious drink too). I think each of us could have happily stayed at this tej joint for hours but we were not even half way through our planned adventure for the day. I left the tej bar with a pleasant buzz.
We went to the lovely Hebishah restaurant after we left Merkato. We arrived after the lunch hour so we were the only people beside the employees in the restaurant.
Ok, I am starving as I write this. I must go eat. I should be able to eat and come back. To be continued...
you're an incredible writer :-)
Posted by: maria | June 13, 2005 at 02:54 AM
How cool is this? Great commentary and review, and I will try some recipes.
Posted by: Zollie | July 13, 2006 at 12:58 PM