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Is Ethiopian and Somali food taking off in the UK? I discovered Ethiopian cuisine a few years ago, and once you know about it it can be found in large-ish citi

by n8cpdx 5y ago

Is Ethiopian and Somali food taking off in the UK? I discovered Ethiopian cuisine a few years ago, and once you know about it it can be found in large-ish cities in the US, but the businesses all seemed like they were on the edge of collapse. It makes no sense because the food is incredibly delicious, approachable, and unique. And I guess by taking off I mean: likely to be present in small communities, present in abundance (competition, market segmentation) in large communities, and available (not in an exclusive way) in a form tailored to western lifestyles (on DoorDash/ Deliveroo, available as supermarket kits comparable to the taco shell kits or pizza-making kits, or made into fast food like Taco Bell, KFC, Burger King, Panda Express, etc). It seems like it’s about time for a new cultural cuisine to be mainstreamed in the US, IMO.

Symbiote 5y ago
There are Ethiopian restaurants in medium-sized towns, but I don't think ready-made or "kit" versions are available at supermarkets. You can buy teff flour from health food shops or online. I wouldn't expect large fast-food chains to appear in the UK -- these are almost exclusively American food. Indian and Chinese food has been widespread for years, and there are many restaurants and takeaways but they are all small/local businesses. There are 11 Ethiopian options on Deliveroo in London: https://deliveroo.co.uk/cuisines/ethiopian-takeaway/london https://deliveroo.co.uk/cuisines/ethiopian-takeaway/london
Accacin 5y ago
In the city I live, there's a vegan market twice a month and they have a nice food market. One of the stalls was Ethiopian food, and I'd never tried it before so I decided to get lunch there. It was really tasty, from what I remember a lot of it was mashed up in a texture similar to hummous. No idea how authentic it was as I have nothing to compare it to but amazing whatever it was. so I wouldn't so it's taking off yet, but it probably will :)
FerociousTimes 5y ago
> It makes no sense because the food is incredibly delicious, approachable, and unique. Do they have fast food offerings like wraps and pies? Also, what do you mean by "approachable"? Convenient?
- n8cpdx 5y ago
  Approachable meaning it doesn’t take a giant leap for an American to consume it - it isn’t bugs (ants, grasshoppers, locusts) and it isn’t raw fish. Not that there’s anything wrong with those things - Americans do in fact eat those things, but there can be some mental hurdles around eating something that is identifiably an insect. The Ethiopian food I’ve seen is injira and various combinations of spices, chicken, beef, eggs, and common vegetables. The least “approachable” part is that you eat it with your hands, but in practice it’s not any different from a burrito or taco. A fast food take on Ethiopian would almost certainly include a wrap made with injera, maybe tibs, and gomen wat. Doro wat would work as well. In restaurants it is often served platter style, which is directly analogous to many Chinese restaurants in the US.
  - FerociousTimes 5y ago
    By "approachable", you mean more familiar and less adventurous or exotic, right? What makes Mexican cuisine popular beside the usual reasons like taste and flavors is that it lends itself very well to the operations of fast food businesses with all those diverse and rich offerings that make the life of the business owner easier and enjoyable than with other challenging cuisines like that of Horn of Africa to adopt to the type of operation seen in this kind of establishments.
    - n8cpdx 5y ago
      I don’t think that really makes sense. There are plenty of popular/commercially successful cuisines that involve long prep times or intricate procedures. And Ethiopian cuisine doesn’t have to be super difficult to make - I took a class last year and made doro wat and gomen wat. The teacher (who immigrated from Ethiopia) made some adaptations so the recipe could be made within class time, but also told us how to do it with a slower traditional process. And like I said, approachable means approachable to western audiences. In other words, less of a hurdle than asking people to eat bugs. I don’t see anything about the Ethiopian cuisine at restaurants that explains why those restaurants aren’t more successful or common (like Thai, Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Sushi, etc). It’s not really about adventurism or exoticism because I think Ethiopian is plenty adventurous and exotic for probably a sizable portion, if not majority, of Americans.

by n8cpdx 5y ago

Symbiote 5y ago

There are Ethiopian restaurants in medium-sized towns, but I don't think ready-made or "kit" versions are available at supermarkets. You can buy teff flour from health food shops or online. I wouldn't expect large fast-food chains to appear in the UK -- these are almost exclusively American food. Indian and Chinese food has been widespread for years, and there are many restaurants and takeaways but they are all small/local businesses. There are 11 Ethiopian options on Deliveroo in London: https://deliveroo.co.uk/cuisines/ethiopian-takeaway/london https://deliveroo.co.uk/cuisines/ethiopian-takeaway/london

Accacin 5y ago

In the city I live, there's a vegan market twice a month and they have a nice food market. One of the stalls was Ethiopian food, and I'd never tried it before so I decided to get lunch there. It was really tasty, from what I remember a lot of it was mashed up in a texture similar to hummous. No idea how authentic it was as I have nothing to compare it to but amazing whatever it was. so I wouldn't so it's taking off yet, but it probably will :)

FerociousTimes 5y ago

> It makes no sense because the food is incredibly delicious, approachable, and unique. Do they have fast food offerings like wraps and pies? Also, what do you mean by "approachable"? Convenient?

n8cpdx 5y ago
Approachable meaning it doesn’t take a giant leap for an American to consume it - it isn’t bugs (ants, grasshoppers, locusts) and it isn’t raw fish. Not that there’s anything wrong with those things - Americans do in fact eat those things, but there can be some mental hurdles around eating something that is identifiably an insect. The Ethiopian food I’ve seen is injira and various combinations of spices, chicken, beef, eggs, and common vegetables. The least “approachable” part is that you eat it with your hands, but in practice it’s not any different from a burrito or taco. A fast food take on Ethiopian would almost certainly include a wrap made with injera, maybe tibs, and gomen wat. Doro wat would work as well. In restaurants it is often served platter style, which is directly analogous to many Chinese restaurants in the US.
- FerociousTimes 5y ago
  By "approachable", you mean more familiar and less adventurous or exotic, right? What makes Mexican cuisine popular beside the usual reasons like taste and flavors is that it lends itself very well to the operations of fast food businesses with all those diverse and rich offerings that make the life of the business owner easier and enjoyable than with other challenging cuisines like that of Horn of Africa to adopt to the type of operation seen in this kind of establishments.
  - n8cpdx 5y ago
    I don’t think that really makes sense. There are plenty of popular/commercially successful cuisines that involve long prep times or intricate procedures. And Ethiopian cuisine doesn’t have to be super difficult to make - I took a class last year and made doro wat and gomen wat. The teacher (who immigrated from Ethiopia) made some adaptations so the recipe could be made within class time, but also told us how to do it with a slower traditional process. And like I said, approachable means approachable to western audiences. In other words, less of a hurdle than asking people to eat bugs. I don’t see anything about the Ethiopian cuisine at restaurants that explains why those restaurants aren’t more successful or common (like Thai, Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Sushi, etc). It’s not really about adventurism or exoticism because I think Ethiopian is plenty adventurous and exotic for probably a sizable portion, if not majority, of Americans.