Eritrea

🇪🇷Eritrea

Alicha Birsen

Eritrean mild vegetable stew with potatoes, green beans, carrots, and green peppers; seasoned with turmeric or curry instead of berbere; similar to Ethiopian alicha but with Eritrean spice preferences; served on injera.

🇪🇷Asmara, Eritrea

Areqe

ዐረቄ

A traditional Ethiopian clear distilled liquor, similar to katikala. Commercial versions are often flavored with anise, giving it a taste reminiscent of ouzo. Also spelled araki.

🇪🇹Ethiopia

Asa Shorba

ዓሣ ሾርባ

An Ethiopian-style fish soup, fragrant with garlic, ginger and warm spices. A lighter alternative to richer fish stews and a wonderful fasting-season dish.

🇪🇹Ethiopia

Asa Tibs

ዓሣ ጥብስ

Stir-fried fish cooked in niter kibbeh with onions, jalapeños and warm spices — the fasting-friendly cousin of classic tibs. Quick, savory and a Lent favorite.

🇪🇷Asmara, Eritrea

Asmara Beer

Asmara Birra

The national beer of Eritrea; brewed by Asmara Brewery, founded in 1939 during the Italian colonial period as Melotti; a crisp lager; found in every bar and restaurant in Asmara; a legacy of Italian brewing in the Horn of Africa.

🇪🇹Ethiopia

Azifa

አዚፋ

A cold Ethiopian green-lentil salad tossed with chopped onions, jalapeños, lime juice, mustard and oil. Spiced with ginger and turmeric, it's a beloved fasting dish that's bright, tangy and refreshing.

🇪🇷Eritrea

Berbere

በርበሬ

The soul of Ethiopian cuisine. A deeply complex red spice blend built around dried chili peppers and layered with a dozen or more aromatics — fenugreek, cardamom, korarima, ajwain, cloves, ginger, garlic and more. The heat and depth behind every wot.

🇪🇷Eritrea

Beyaynetu

በያይነቱ

The famous Ethiopian combo platter — a large round of injera topped with small mounds of multiple stews and salads. Usually fully vegan (tsom-friendly), it's the single best way to taste Ethiopia in one meal.

🇪🇹Ethiopia

Buna

ቡና

Ethiopian coffee — and the birthplace of coffee itself. Buna is at the heart of Ethiopian daily life, from the elaborate three-round coffee ceremony to a quick cup at the corner café.

🇪🇷Eritrea

Chicken Stew Firfir

Dorho Tsebhi Firfir

Eritrean dish of shredded injera soaked in leftover dorho tsebhi (chicken stew) sauce; the rich berbere sauce penetrates the torn flatbread; a resourceful way to use leftovers; served with hard-boiled eggs.

🇪🇷Asmara, Eritrea

Cotoletta alla Milanese

Cotoletta

Eritrean version of the Italian breaded veal cutlet; a legacy of colonial cuisine; served in Asmara's Italian-style restaurants; pounded thin, breaded, and fried golden; eaten with pasta or salad; a staple of trattoria menus.

🇪🇹Ethiopia

Dabo Bread

ዳቦ

The umbrella term for Ethiopian wheat bread — leavened, enriched loaves baked for holidays and special occasions, in contrast to the everyday injera. The base of dishes like defo dabo and yemarina yewotet dabo.

🇪🇷Eritrea

Doro Wat

ዶሮ ወጥ

Ethiopia's national dish: chicken legs slow-simmered for hours in a deeply spiced kulet of caramelized onions, berbere and niter kibbeh, served with a hard-boiled egg over injera. The dish that crowns every holiday and special occasion.

🇪🇷Eritrea

Egg Stew

Enkulal Tsebhi

Eritrean spicy egg stew; hard-boiled eggs simmered in a berbere and tomato sauce; a protein-rich fasting-day dish when meat is avoided; served on injera; similar to Ethiopian enkulal firfir but stewed rather than shredded.

🇪🇷Eritrea

Eritrean Bozen Shiro

Bozena Shiro

Eritrean shiro enriched with minced beef; the chickpea flour stew gets a meaty boost; heartier than plain tsebhi shiro; served on injera; a popular variation for non-fasting days.

🇪🇷Asmara, Eritrea

Eritrean Espresso

Espresso

Italian-style espresso served in Asmara's historic cafes; made with original Italian machinery; a legacy of the colonial period; drunk standing at bars before sunrise; cappuccinos and lattes equally common; the cafe culture of Asmara runs deep.

🇪🇷Eritrea

Eritrean Fish Soup

Asa Shorba

Eritrean fish soup from the Red Sea coast; clear, peppery broth with fish chunks, vegetables, and herbs; a coastal comfort food; lighter than asa tsebhi; eaten with bread or injera.

🇪🇷Asmara, Eritrea

Eritrean Frittata

Frittata

Italian-style frittata adapted in Eritrea; an open-faced omelette with vegetables, herbs, and sometimes leftover stews; a legacy of colonial cuisine; served in cafes and homes; a simple, versatile dish.

🇪🇷Asmara, Eritrea

Eritrean Gelato

Gelato

Italian-style gelato served in Asmara's gelaterias; a legacy of the colonial period; creamy, dense, and available in tropical fruit flavors; found in parlors along Asmara's boulevards; a sweet reminder of the city's Italian past.

🇪🇷Eritrea

Eritrean Gored Gored

Gored Gored

Eritrean dish of raw beef cubes marinated in mitmita and niter kibbeh; similar to Ethiopian kitfo but with larger chunks; eaten at celebrations; a delicacy for meat lovers; served with injera or kitcha.

🇪🇷Eritrea

Eritrean Himbasha

Himbasha

Eritrean celebration bread, slightly sweet and flavored with cardamom; the Eritrean variant is distinguished by raisins; wheel-shaped with a decorative radial pattern pressed into the top; served at weddings, Christmas, and coffee ceremonies.

🇪🇹Ethiopia

Eritrean Kinche

ቅንጬ

A simple, hearty Ethiopian breakfast of cracked wheat (or barley) cooked in water and finished with niter kibbeh. Filling, wholesome, and the perfect way to start a long day.

🇪🇷Eritrea

Eritrean Kitcha

Kitcha

Eritrean unleavened thin flatbread made with wheat flour, water, and salt; cooked on a hot griddle; thinner and crispier than injera; the base for kitcha fitfit; eaten alongside stews or with butter and berbere for breakfast.

🇪🇷Eritrea

Eritrean Kitfo

Kitfo

Eritrean minced raw beef marinated in mitmita and niter kibbeh; similar to the Ethiopian version; a delicacy served at special occasions; often paired with ayib cheese and gomen greens; eaten with injera or kitcha.

🇪🇷Eritrea

Eritrean Lasagna

Lasagna

Eritrean-style lasagna, a legacy of Italian colonization; layered pasta with meat sauce, bechamel, and cheese; sometimes eschewing ricotta; baked in pans for holidays and long weekends; passed down from grandparents who lived through the occupation.

🇪🇷Asmara, Eritrea

Eritrean Panettone

Panettone

Italian sweet bread adopted into Eritrean cuisine; commonly served with tea or during the coffee ceremony; eaten in the days leading up to Christmas; a legacy of Italian colonization; found in bakeries across Asmara.

🇪🇷Asmara, Eritrea

Eritrean Pizza

Pizza

Pizza as made in Asmara's pizzerias; a legacy of Italian colonization; thin-crust, simple toppings; one of the favorite foods in the capital; eaten in trattoria-style restaurants that also serve zigni; neither fully Italian nor fully Eritrean.

🇪🇷Eritrea

Eritrean Shahan Ful

Shahan Ful

Eritrean breakfast of slow-cooked fava beans mashed with onions, tomatoes, jalapenos, cumin, lemon juice, and olive oil; served with bread rolls for dipping; especially popular during Lent and Ramadan; a Horn of Africa staple.

🇪🇷Asmara, Eritrea

Eritrean Spris

Spris

Eritrean mixed fruit juice drink; layers of avocado, mango, papaya, and other tropical juices in a single glass; sometimes topped with a splash of sparkling water; a popular cafe drink in Asmara; refreshing in the highland heat.

🇪🇷Eritrea

Eritrean Tihlo

Tihlo

Eritrean dish of roasted barley flour dough shaped into small balls; served on a stick and dipped into a spicy berbere sauce; a specialty of the Tigrinya people; eaten communally

🇪🇷Eritrea

Ethiopian Fresh Cheese

አይብ

Ethiopia's fresh, soft cottage cheese — mild, slightly tangy and crumbly. The classic cooling side for spicy dishes and the essential partner to kitfo, where it tempers the heat of mitmita.

🇩🇯Djibouti

Fata

Ground flatbread mashed with ripe banana or dates into a thick sweet paste, served as the traditional accompaniment to mukbasa.

🇪🇷Eritrea

Firfir

ፍርፍር

A whole family of Ethiopian dishes built on torn or chopped injera tossed with sauces and seasonings. The word literally means 'crumbled' — and it can be made spicy with berbere or mild and savory. A classic breakfast.

🇪🇷Eritrea

Fish Tsebhi

Asa Tsebhi

Eritrean fish stew from the Red Sea coast; fresh fish simmered in berbere, tomatoes, onions, and garlic; a coastal specialty from Massawa; eaten with injera; reflects Eritrea's long coastline and fishing tradition.

🇸🇩Sudan

Ful Medames

فول مدمس

Dried fava beans simmered soft and crushed at the table with lemon, garlic, cumin and olive oil, eaten with raw onion and bread.

🇪🇷Eritrea

Ga'at

Eritrean porridge of barley or wheat flour stirred into boiling water until thick and smooth; served in a mound with a well in the center filled with niter kibbeh and berbere; yogurt spooned around the edges; eaten for breakfast, especially on weekends.