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Massawa oven fish

Along the waterfront in Massawa, on Eritrea's Red Sea coast, fish restaurants slap whole snapper and grouper with a red berbere paste and lower them into scorching clay ovens, then bring them to the table on a tray with flatbread, lime and a fresh chilli relish. The skin chars and blisters, the spice paste turns smoky, and the flesh stays moist and sweet underneath. Everyone tears off pieces of bread and pulls the fish from the bone with their fingers. A domestic oven turned up as high as it goes gives a very good result. Chef's tip: score the fish deeply down to the bone and push the paste into the cuts, so the flavour reaches the middle and the thickest part cooks as fast as the tail.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tsebhi asaFish in berbere tomato stew

Massawa's home cooks make tsebhi asa with whatever came in on the boats that morning, often kingfish, grouper or snapper, simmered in a stew that is redder and more tomato-rich than the lake fish wats of Ethiopia. Plenty of fresh tomato and a little tomato paste go into the berbere and onion base, with garlic and a touch of cumin, so the sauce is spicy, tangy and bright. It is scooped up with injera or with the flatbread of the coast, and leftovers are even better the next morning with bread. Chef's tip: cut the fish into large chunks with the skin on where you can; skin helps the pieces hold together in the simmering sauce.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

KulwaPan-fried beef with berbere butter

Kulwa (also called tibsi in parts of the Horn) is the fast, sizzling beef dish that Eritrean restaurants in Asmara and Massawa bring to the table in a hot clay dish: small strips of beef fried hard with onion, green chilli, a sprig of rosemary and a spoon of spiced butter, with a dusting of berbere. It is eaten with injera or bread as a weekend treat. The mistake is overcooking the beef until dry: it needs only a few minutes over high heat. Chef's tip: let the pan get really hot before adding the meat, and serve it still sizzling.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

ZigniSpicy beef stew

Zigni is the signature stew of Asmara and the Eritrean highlands, served on a wide platter of injera at weddings, Sunday lunches and the end of fasts. Red onions are cooked slowly in a dry pot until they collapse, then berbere, garlic, ginger and tomato go in, followed by beef that simmers until tender in a deep red, peppery sauce finished with spiced butter (tesmi). The mistake is rushing the onions: they must cook down for a good 20 minutes to give the sauce its sweet base. Chef's tip: the onions start in a dry pan with no oil, the traditional way; stir them often and add a splash of water if they catch.

120 minEritreanMeatGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views