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Client story: Hanukkah Injera Nachos

2021-08-19T00:00:00+02:00

The Story of Hanukkah

Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday that dates back over 2100 years. The emphasis and cultural importance of the Hanukkah story have evolved over time, but the central gist is that it celebrates Jewish survival in the face of persecution. Specifically, it commemorates the military victory of a small army of Jews called the Maccabees, who expelled the Seleuicid Greeks from the lands around Jerusalem in 164 BCE.

The modern celebration of Hanukkah focuses on a “miracle of light” that is alleged to have occurred shortly after the Maccabees regained control of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. Upon reentering the Temple and clearing it of Greek idolatry, the Maccabees were distraught to discover that there was not enough oil to keep the sacred menorah lamp burning for more than one day. It was crucial that the menorah light not go out – but they wouldn’t be able to secure more oil for the lamp for at least a week! Miraculously, the oil that should have only lasted one day continued to burn for eight whole days, by which time more oil had arrived.

The Food of Hanukkah

No Jewish holiday is complete without food! Especially food specifically chosen or designed around a symbolic theme of the holiday. For Hanukkah, the symbolism is particularly delicious, because it translates into food that has been deep-fried in oil, as a reference to the miraculous oil that burned for eight days in the Temple’s menorah.

The most common deep-fried Hanukkah foods from the Eastern and Northern European traditions are potato pancakes called latkes and filled donuts called sufganiyot. Jewish communities from other parts of the world eat other deep-fried deliciousness like sfenj, sambusak, kubbeh, and atayef. But really it’s the oil that’s important, much more than the particular food being fried in it, so essentially any food can be “Hanukkah food” if it’s deep-fried in oil or otherwise oily.

Injera for Hanukkah?

The day after our cooking class, we had already finished our Tibs, but had several pieces of leftover Injera. My brother-in-law mentioned that there’s an Ethiopian restaurant near them in Washington, D.C. that serves fried injera chips, and we thought that would be a perfect Hanukkah food!

But then came the question: what to serve with the fried injera chips? To answer this, we looked no further than our own backyard. We live in California, where “California-style” Mexican dishes such as nachos loaded with avocado, cheese, black beans, greens, and sour cream are popular. So loaded nachos were a natural choice for the Injera chips! Nachos are usually served with tortilla chips made from corn or wheat flour, but the Injera worked perfectly, adding a rounder and nuttier taste.

Hanukkah Injera Nachos!

Frying the Injera

Injera nachos with shredded cheese, beans, green onion, avocado, and sour cream on the 4th night of Hanukkah

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2020-08-04T00:00:00+02:00

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Source Ethiopia Client Travel Story: Pat and Dov

2019-03-22T00:00:00+02:00

We told Daniel that we only had 8 days to tour the northern part of the country. But we wanted to see as many of the major sites as we could with an emphasis on the country’s history. He planned a trip that worked perfectly for us. We started in Aksum, the site of the oldest kingdom. Because of his planning, we were there for the awesome Prayer for Forgiveness ceremony. Next was Lalibela where we saw all of the major churches, the highlight being the Yimrhane Kristos Monastery. The excursion to the Semien Mountains was amazing, including a picnic overlooking the escarpment.

We saw Bahir Dar, the Ura Kidane Mihret monastery, and much more. The pace, hotels and dining arrangements, and travel vans exactly matched our preferences. A bonus, that I think is unique to Source Ethiopia Tours, was an injera-making lesson, dinner, and a coffee ceremony with Daniel and his family on the last night of our tour. If you are going to Ethiopia and want a trip of a lifetime, we highly recommend you go with Source Ethiopia Tours."

- Pat Salber & Dov Michaeli, retired physicians

Source Ethiopia featured in Independent's Addis Ababa City Guide

2019-02-04T00:00:00+02:00

An extract from the article:

"Make injera

A staple of Ethiopian cuisine, injera is a mildly sour, spongy flatbread made from fermented teff flour (and sometimes additional flours, such as barley). Stewed main dishes are typically served atop injera and eaten by hand, using more injera to scoop up mouthfuls of food. Several tours in Addis offer injera making components – My Guzo’s Culinary Tour is a popular one (£79). Daniel and Tigist on Traveling Spoon offer private cooking classes in their home (£72pp, with discounts for groups)."

Read the full article on Independent.co.uk

FOOD TOURISM IN ETHIOPIA - Ethiopia’s first Traveling Spoon Food Host

2018-03-22T00:00:00+02:00

Looking at the Traveling Spoon website and the opportunities it offered, both myself and my wife, Tigist, decided to become hosts, so we could meet people from all over the world with different cultural backgrounds. I had a phone call with the Traveling Spoon team and completed the application form online with my family profile. The Traveling Spoon Ambassadors then visited us, took pictures and forwarded them to the Traveling Spoon team with their review that you can find on our profile. We had a wonderful time with them.

With the Traveling Spoon team we set the price for the experiences we could offer, including a local market visit, cooking class, traditional meal and transportation to and from a guests hotel. With the pictures from the ambassadors and information from the application questionnaire the team developed our profile. It really looks great.

For the local market tour, we take you to the spice section, recycling area, where cereals are sold and the vegetable markets. During the market tour we help you engage your five senses: see the settings of the market, smell some spices, taste pepper or chick bean powder, feel the finest cereal called teff (to make Injera) and listen to the locals exchanging. We teach you the ingredients we source from the market before it appears on the plate. The locals at keta market are not used to foreigners and will follow or watch you while you are visiting. However, they are friendly and welcoming.

Once you are at our home, you will be introduced to the family members including my wife Tigist who conducts the cooking class and my three boys Ebba, Moti and Kaku. The boys are home only during weekends and when the school is closed (June, July and August). Then, you cook one dish from scratch with the help from Tigist; as well as clean, roast and grind coffee beans. Moreover, you will also pour Injera – our staple food. Finally, you will enjoy a traditional meal, sharing with the family from one plate.

Read the Full Article on acorntourism.co.uk