What happens is what Zegeye describes as an alchemical fusion of the spices. When a dish is cooked with the spice blend, it, too, is called a wat. Zegeye likes to say that each bite of such a dish penetrates deep into the soul.
In Ethiopia, a wat would be served with injera, a spongelike bread made of a grain that is unavailable in this country. At Nyala, an acceptable substitute is made with self-rising wheat-flour batter cooked like an unbrowned pancake in a well-seasoned skillet.
To eat the wat, a diner tears off a scrap of injera, holds it with the first three fingers of the right hand and uses it to pick up a bite of the wat or of the yogurt, collards or other side dishes that round out the meal.
The wat and side dishes, incidentally, are served on a tray topped with another sheet of injera. At the end of the meal, the injera, now soaked with the juices of the food it has held, is also eaten.
For a taste of Ethiopian food from your own home, Zegeye shares with Critic's Choice his recipe for Yebeg Wat, a delectable curried-lamb dish that is surprisingly easy to make and quite authentic even when you don't bury the spices for three days.
Chopped onions, two full cups of them, give the dish its base. The onions cook slowly in a heavy pan until they sweat out their excess liquid and are soft. Clarified butter is added next, followed by a substantial amount of chopped garlic, fresh ginger and cardamom, all loved by Ethiopian cooks. Turmeric gives the dish its distinctive color.
When the flavors have blended (a matter of a few minutes), wine and water are added. Here, Zegeye suggests using any dry wine, but in Ethiopia he would use the country's distinctive honey wine, another ingredient he finds almost impossible to obtain here.
