“Excuse me can I have a glass please?” I asked the server in German as she brought me a decanter of honey wine. She smiled, “I can bring you a wine glass, but honey wine is drank straight out of the decanter in Ethiopia, ” she kindly explained, trying to suppress a giggle. I’m no wine connoisseur, but I do love my wine- pumpkin wine, mulled wine and even a Trollinger on occasion, so I was embarrassed for my obvious lack of knowledge and passed on the glass. Besides I was up for being “local” – well as local as you can be at an Ethiopian Restaurant located in the center of Munich. I sipped it cautiously, having never drunk from a wine decanter before. It was sweet, much sweeter than I had expected and I sipped it slowly as I entered into a blissful sugar high.
Ethiopian food is eaten with the hands. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
Surely I would fare better with the main course. I had ordered a lamb stew dish of some sort, not really knowing what I was getting since I was unfamiliar with eating Ethiopian cuisine, but when it came out it was served with sourdough flat bread and no utensils. The idea was to use the bread to scoop up the stew. This wouldn’t have been a problem – except that I’m allergic to bread. I explained this much to our server’s amusement as I asked for utensils. She didn’t even try and hold in her giggle this time as she explained that Ethiopian food is eaten with the hands and is always served with bread, even if it’s not indicated on the menu. Clearly I had a lot to learn.
I contemplated ordering dessert, but was already full from my hearty dish, or maybe it was just fear of further embarrassment that held me back, so my embarrassment ended there – for that night anyway. But I’ll be back be more. If the price of good food and learning about a new cuisine is a little embarrassment, I’ll take it, besides I still have to try dessert!
This post has been submitted as part of WanderFood Wednesdays where you can find more food related posts.
