Ethiopian Rendevous

   There is no better place to discover and experience authentic Ethiopian food other than Little Ethiopia - not in New York City. There is only 1 restaurant I would recommend - Queen of Sheba in midtown. Little Ethiopia is the Maryland-DC-northern Virginia area, where you walk around and Ethiopians are everywhere & you can say, "tena yistellegn" or "tadias" (hello). 

   Traveling with an Ethiopian friend, we stopped off at a local bodega to buy my favorite bread, ambasha, now made with multi-grain. For around $5, you have this big round bread that has an inner texture of a dinner roll, seasoned with a mild spice - fennel? Seeing a samosa, Ethiopians call it Sambussa, my friend bought 2 pieces. I munched on it like a carrot, thinking I must have adapted to the Ethiopian spice (NOTE: Ethiopian spice is REALLY spicy). My friend complained of its spice and I wondered what she was talking about until...POOING!! I ate the center core & bit on the actual spice. Water, breath mint, I could not get out the spice out of my lips and my tongue.

     We stopped at Addis Ababa Restaurant in Silver Springs, MD. My friend ordered either Gored Gored or Liga Tibs (picture on website's homepage), beef chunks served in a hot plate with butter, spices, jalapeno peppers. It's enough for 2 people and the Ethiopian "pancake" or injera is enough. Still feeling the spice from the sambussa, the beef was good but please do not mix the jalapeno seeds in it. This is already their mild version. I still turned pink or red. Solution: drink milk.