Eritrean evening

Tonight a big group of us invaded Asmara in Brixton. This Eritrean restaurant is owned by husband and wife Tedros and Haregu and sits squarely in the middle of Coldharbour Lane. It was my first experience of Eritrean cooking and it won't be my last. I'm hooked.

Haregu spooned steaming dollops of meat stew on layers of a sour, fermented, spongy pancake - inerja - which we tore off from the plate and scooped up the stews with our fingers (no cutlery here!). Inerja is made from teff - one of the world's smallest grains, measuring roughly 1/32 of an inch in diameter. Apparently, around 150 grains equal the size of a kernel of wheat.

We ate several different kinds of stew, including kulwa (tender pieces of lamb fried in a spicy sauce), derho alicha (a richly spiced chicken concoction), gored gored (tartar beef cubes with spiced butter), fried spicy potatoes and spinach sauteed in olive oil, lemon, garlic and chilli. Eritrean spices include hot chilli pepper, basil, garlic, ginger, black and white cumin, and cardamom.

Some of the group opted for the vegetarian platter - also on layers of inerja. The veggie option included ajibo behmilti (spinach with ricotta and spiced butter), shiro (finely ground chickpeas with olive oil and spices) and temtemo (a spicy lentil stew).

A wonderful evening, to be repeated often.

Related links:
+ History of Eritrea (BBC)
+ Eritrean cuisine

Other link today:
+ Full text original Quarto editions of Shakespeare (British Library). This is so exciting!