Falling for Food: No Forks Allowed

My friend Tiffany, a former resident of Chicago, was one of the first people I told about my idea of developing a food blog. Her initial response was that I, finally, had to try Ethiopian food. Years ago, while in college, I had seen Tiffany's to go containers filled with Ethiopian food and I must admit I had no desire to taste what was within that container. She always said to me that it tasted better than it looked and that I was missing out. And I was quite content with living a life of not finding out how right or wrong (as I adamently believed) she was about her Ethiopian dishes.

On a trip to Chicago a few months ago, she fulfilled her promise of introducing me to Ethiopian food, at one of her favorite restaurants in Edgewater, Ras Dashen (http://www.rasdashenchicago.com/index.php). I love that the menu has an how to order guide for those of us that are new to the world of Ethiopian food. We decided to order two meat entrees, each entree comes with a choice of three sides. Doro alicha was our chicken selection, milder than than the spicy Doro wat. I can't recall the name of the beef selection, but among our small party the chicken selection was much more popular. While I tried all of the sides, there was one that I kept going back for: Tikil gomen alicha (mildly spiced cabbage, potato and carrot stew). Luckily, we ordered two sides of this dish, as it was definitely a favorite.

I was not a fan of the sour taste of the injera, the Ethiopian bread, used to eat the meal. Because of my distaste for the bread, Tiffany suggested I use a fork and give up on the traditional method of eating. It felt odd using a fork, when no one else in the establishment was using one so I went back to the bread. While I did not like everything I ate, I would go back with a group. And I give Tiffany the credit of proving to me that I would like Ethiopian food if I gave it a chance. That's what this journey is about, trying new foods, and discovering new ways and places to eat.