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• CULINARY HISTORIANS OF NEW YORK• Volume 14, No. 1 Fall 2000 CHNY Steering Committee 2000-2001 TRAVELER’S JOURNAL Chairperson: Phyllis Isaacson Vice-Chairperson: Stephen Ethiopia: Land of Culinary Contradictions Schmidt By Larry Litt Secretary: Lois O’Wyatt Treasurer: Lee Coleman ESPITE drought, In Ethiopia fasting is only one Members-at-Large: famines, and wars, of the important mainstream Wendy Clapp-Shapiro, DEthiopians have always dietary themes. Conversely, and Membership observed their sacred fasting days. strange to outsiders, considering Helen Studley, Programs Fasting in the Ethiopian Orthodox their dedication to religious fast- John W. R. Jenkins, Publicity Church means to do without meat ing, on non-fasting days the or dairy products for a given majority of Ethiopians I met ate period of time, from one day to the highly spiced and piquant raw meat CHNY Information Hotline 55 days of the Lenten season. In to celebrate events like births, (212) 501-3738 the old Julian calendar that funerals, and weddings—and of Ethiopia’s ancient church observes course, only if these days don’t there are over 200 days where only coincide with fasting days. I was CHNY Newsletter: vegetarian foods are prepared and told that very fatty raw beef, goat, Editor: Helen Brody served in homes, schools, the mili- and lamb meats, with a side of Copy Editor: Karen Berman tary, and restaurants. spicy awaze sauce, (a mixture of red The custom comes from the peppers, garlic, fresh ginger, red Please send, fax, or e-mail all Orit, the Old and New Testaments onion, rue seed, basil, cloves, cin- newsletter correspondence to: written in Ge’ez, the ancient namon, salt, cardamom, red wine, Helen Brody language of the historical king- and water), are the most popular PO Box 923 doms of Abyssinia, Kush, and Saba, dishes throughout Ethiopia.
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