Common Foods and Dishes
Eritrean food habits vary regionally. In the highlands, injera is the staple diet and eaten daily among the Tigrinya. When eating, diners generally share food from a large tray placed in the centre of a low dining table. Numerous injera are layered on this tray and topped with various spicy stews. Diners break into the section of injera in front of them, tearing off pieces and dipping them into the stews.
The stews that accompany injera are usually made from beef, chicken, mutton or vegetables. Most Eritreans, with the exception of the Saho, like their food hot and spicy. Berbere, a spice mixture that consists of a variety of common and unusual herbs and spices, accompanies almost all dishes. Stews include zigni, which is made of beef; dorho tsebhi, which is made of chicken; alicha, which is made without berbere; and shiro, a puree of various legumes. Due to its past as an Italian colony, Eritrean cuisine also features unique interpretations of classic Italian dishes, such as pasta dishes spiced with berbere.
In the lowlands, the main dish is Penne or akelet, a porridge-like dish made from wheat flour dough. A ladle is used to scoop out the top, which is filled with berbere and butter sauce and surrounded by milk or yogurt. A small piece of dough is broken and then used to scoop up the sauce.
Read more about this topic: Eritrean Cuisine
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