The 'injera', the Ethiopian bread that serves as a plate and covered

Darwin would have tried it

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It has flour, includes water and is a bread... but it doesn't look like a bread. Injera is the most characteristic food of Ethiopian gastronomy - although it is also consumed in Eritrea, Somalia and Djibouti, neighboring countries - from which the rest of the traditional recipes are enjoyed, since it serves as a dish and cutlery for them. Its appearance resembles that of the well-known French

due to its absence of crumb, thin thickness and circular shape with one relatively soft side and the other honeycombed and porous, but its similarity ends there. To begin with, the flour used to make it is that of a cereal native to this part of Africa, teff, rich in iron and to which a thousand and one nutritional properties are attributed, in addition to not containing gluten and, therefore, be suitable for celiacs. A source of fiber and rich in protein, teff—whose cultivation dates back to 4,000 years BC—is credited with being partly responsible for the great performance of Ethiopian athletes in the Olympic Games and international competitions.

With a spongy texture and a whitish color that sometimes turns grayish, Ethiopians consider injera a delicacy, although not all travelers who try it share this opinion, far from it. Among the latter was the Spanish writer Javier Reverte, who described his experience with this dish in several texts. In his book

, published in 2004, he stated in the first chapter: “The acidic taste of the injera that I had in the Addis Ababa market returns to my mouth and that unleashed a colitis like hell.” In a later travel report about Ethiopia he insisted on that idea: “It tastes like hell and usually causes overwhelming diarrhea to the foreigner who dares to try it.” The truth is that its texture and flavor are far from what European palates are used to for bread and it is not easy for a neophyte to get used to it. When chewed, it may seem chewy, even more so if taken alone.

And yet, if you travel through the African country, it is practically impossible to avoid injera because it is omnipresent, as well as a very particular culinary experience for several reasons. First of all, because of its preparation. Teff flour is mixed with water and

, a yellowish liquid that acts as sourdough, is added. Once the mixture is made, it is left to rest to ferment for two or three days, which will give it its characteristic acidic flavor that Reverte complained so much about. After this time, the resulting viscous mass is spread on a hot circular griddle to cook. The final result is that peculiar crepe with a porous and resistant texture that allows it to be at the same time a plate, a cover and a food.

The second peculiarity is the original way of consuming it. To begin with, it is not a dish in itself, but rather it is used as the basis on which many traditional recipes are presented. With a diameter of approximately half a meter, it is served on a large tray, sometimes inside a wicker basket with a lid, which is placed in the center of the table so that diners can share it. On it, different quantities of one or more traditional stews have been previously placed such as

(meat or vegetable stews),

(made with ground chickpeas),

(lentil salad),

(meat stir-fry) or

(with raw and seasoned minced meat). Many of them seasoned with a mixture of spices called berbere, known as “Ethiopian curry.”

The injera becomes at that moment not only the plate on which all these foods are placed, but also the peculiar cutlery used to eat them. To do this, diners take the striped pieces of Ethiopian bread that, rolled up, have been arranged on the same tray or cut pieces from the one that serves as a base (preferably with the right hand, since the left is considered reserved for hygiene). after going to the bathroom) and, using their fingers as clamps, they wrap small portions of these recipes with them to put them in their mouth.

The experience is not complete if during the course of a meal a diner does not take one of these portions and put it in the mouth of one of the people with whom they share the food. This gesture is called

, a word that in the local language, Amharic, means “bite” although, in reality, it symbolizes much more: respect and gratitude towards the recipient. It is the confirmation that this bread is not only one of the main symbols of Ethiopian gastronomic culture, but also of the hospitality of this country. In addition, they assure that injera is a very healthy food, which has a satiating effect, helps prevent cardiovascular diseases and prevents muscle pain. They even claim that, despite the bad experience with Reverte, it helps the normal functioning of the digestive system.

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