East Africa

East Africa is home to varied ecosystems, meaning a large variety of crops. There are deserts, mountainous regions, and the coastline along the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.

If you're vegetarian, rejoice because cuisine in East Africa doesn't feature a lot of meat. Pulses and grains are amongst their top crops, thus you'll find a lot of lentils, sorghum, millet, rice, maize, and beans.

Teff is a popular grain and features heavily in foods in East Africa. Teff is used to make flour that is made into pancakes. What is special about these pancakes? Other than they are delicious, the dough is fermented throughout the day before cooking it into a crepe-like treat.

Traditionally, the various grain and pulse dishes in Ethiopia are served on this injera. It is not considered as the side. People tear off pieces of it to pick up the food like a utensil. The spongey texture soaks up the juices and the tanginess of the injera balances out the heat. It's delicious!

Visit an Ethiopian restaurant and you'll likely sample up to 12 different dishes all arranged on a large plate. Don't worry, the samples aren't larger than a 1/4 cup so you'll really get a taste for what the cuisine has to offer.

But I digress, I wanted to start you out with Misir Wot. This lentil dish is an absolute staple in Ethiopian households. Eventually I'll have an array of dishes to make so you can throw your very own Ethiopian dinner party.