Queen Sheba Ethiopian Cuisine

Ethiopian food is more communal than almost any other type of ethnic food. The hallmark of Ethiopian cuisine consists of sharing food on one giant plate and using enjera a spongy, sour, pliable flat bread to scoop up the various shared dishes. enjera is the common thread of almost every meal for Ethiopia's middle and upper classes. Prepared much as it was 1,000 years ago, enjera is both an eating utensil and a palette for other foods to lie on. It lines the giant plate, soaking up the sauces and spices of the various dishes piled on top. The eating of this lining or "tablecloth" signifies that the meal is officially over, completing the communal Ethiopian dining experience. Zion Taddese and her brother Eskinder opened Queen Sheba Restaurant on Howe Avenue in August of 2003. Together, the siblings offer friendly and attentive service along with spicy, flavorful dishes that follow the traditions of Ethiopian dining. You can enjoy, the famed honey wine, tej, which Ethiopians often make themselves, with a unique taste that complements the spices in the food. Combination plates on the menu, allow you to sample different dishes arranged symmetrically on a giant plate. Dishes such as Gomen, a dish of cooked spinach, collard greens, onions and garlic. Gomen may remind you of collards in soul-food cooking. Then experience, miser kik wot (wot meaning "stew"), a satisfying, mild-flavored dish made with lentils and spices. In the combination you will find two similar-tasting dishes, doro wot and gored gored. Doro wot is a popular dish with chicken leg and hard-boiled egg, served on a dark bed of simmered vegetables and spices. It has the color, consistency and heat of a fiery chili. Doro wot is of the chicken family, the gored gored has cubes of beef in a similar mixture, spiced in Ethiopian fashion, with berbere.