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colleenoz

Yummy, unusual dinner

colleenoz
11 years ago

We went into town this afternoon to see "Life of Pi" (which was good) and DH had researched for restaurants within cooee of the cinema since it's a work night and we didn't want to be super late.
We've been branching out a bit lately, with our last two meals being Korean (which is fairly new here) and tonight's dinner was Eritrean.
Yum! We had a lamb in sauce dish, not unlike Rogan Josh, with side dishes of a green bean, carrot and potato stew, a black lentil stew (served at room temp) and a sort of spicy thick sauce which included ground chick peas. It was served with injera, a kind of cross between a crumpet and a giant pancake, to tear pieces off and scoop up the other foods with instead of using cutlery. We really enjoyed it all and the waitress was really friendly and helpful.
While we ate, the Chinese restaurant across the street had a show going with a traditional band and lion dancers and firecrackers; not sure if it was a straight Lunar New Year celebration or a grand opening, but it was pretty cool to watch :-)
Then, to top it all off, a group of African ladies all came out into the restaurant from the kitchen, and sat down with a portable single burner gas stove, and one proceeded to roast some green coffee beans in a little pan which looked like it was made of a large tuna can with a handle welded on. We were quite fascinated and the ladies chatted amongst themselves, and included us from time to time. When the beans were sufficiently roasted, the roaster brought them around to us and the other guests so we could waft the smoke towards ourselves like a sort of incense ceremony. Then she tipped the beans into a flat basket to cool, and took them to the kitchen to grind them.
Next, she placed the ground coffee into a clay jug which had a globular bottom and a tall, narrow spout, added water and cooked it over the gas stove, pouring it back and forth into another jug from time to time. When it was ready she offered us little cups which she had poured from the jug in a thin stream held high up from the cup. It was really good and we were glad to be offered a second cup :-) I can say I've never had such freshly roasted coffee.
When DH went to pay and thank the waitress for our delicious meal, she said she hadn't charged us for the coffee as it's a social custom from her home that whoever's making coffee shares it with anyone who shows up, and she can't bring herself to ask people to pay :-)
We'll certainly return, hopefully we'll be able to convince family and friends to come as well.

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