Accidental Tourist

Ethiopian moms take the idea of being the 'hostess with the mostess' too far

Lerato Mogoatlhe discovers that Ethiopian mothers take entertaining very seriously indeed

15 July 2018 - 00:00 By Lerato Mogoatlhe

Meet the Ethiopian mom. She's a gracious hostess who took my presence in her house very seriously.
Travelling around Ethiopia for six months, I was a regular guest at many homes. Friends introduced me to their significant others. Strangers wanted to show me their hospitality - and nothing says welcome to Ethiopia quite like being entertained by an Ethiopian mom.
It's always an affair to remember. She will offer a drink before you even sit down. If it's coffee, she will take her place behind a table that comes up to her knees. It has small ceramic cups and a clay pot called a jebena, which she uses to serve the coffee she brews traditionally.
This involves roasting beans on a pan and blowing the smoke around the room so the aroma takes over. According to local legend, buna - coffee - was discovered by an Ethiopian shepherd.
Food is taken very seriously in Ethiopia. Traditional cuisine dominates restaurant menus across the country and the national appetite is regulated by the dietary rules of the Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.
When believers fast for Lent, good luck finding anyone willing to serve animal products. As the joke goes, come the end of the fasting season all the chickens begin to panic as the country goes back to eating doro wot, the national stew.
I have always loved Ethiopian food. I love the sourness of injera, the staple made with fermented teff flour. I love the communal nature of meals, always served on a large platter called a gebeta. I love the heat of the berbere spice and the imagination that has turned a mostly vegan menu into popular international cuisine.
But I cannot just eat an Ethiopian mom's food. First I must sample everything in her kitchen. Any "no" would be followed by pouts and whispered pleas for me to not break her heart.In Lalibela, I had to taste raw chicken liver. On hearing that cabbage is one of my favourite vegetables, another mom followed our vegan dish of yetsom beyaynetu with a fresh platter of just cabbage.
Ethiopian moms also believe that her offspring's friend is also her child. Galila's mom smothered me with love.
My visit started on my favourite note with jars of tej - honey wine. Dinner was mahaberawi - the best of everything. The injera was topped with doro wot and boiled egg, misr wot (lentil stew), gomen (fried spinach), cabbage stewed with carrots, savoury beetroot and zilzil tibs (cubed beef fried with peppers). The platter came with multiple rolls of injera, and the sauces and meat were topped up as we ate.
I tucked in with pleasure. When I was sated, "mom" took over, feeding me with her own hand, a tradition called gursha.Her husband and daughters gave me pitying looks - they'd been there before. When we were finished eating, she gave me another berele of tej and the mood improved ... until she revealed her triumph: tera sega, chunks of raw meat dipped in berbere before eating.
I'll eat anything to be polite. But not raw meat. After her pouting and pleading left me unmoved, she sat her daughter on her lap and cooed and pinched her cheeks as she fed her.
I drank my tej and vowed to never visit an Ethiopian mom at home again. Her food is delicious but her hospitality is too much.
• Mogoatlhe's memoir, 'Vagabond: Wandering through Africa on Faith', will be out in September.
• Do you have a funny or quirky story about your travels? Send 600 words to travelmag@sundaytimes.co.za and include a recent photograph of yourself for publication with the column...

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