The diet of Ethiopia is based on removing excess fat from the food before cooking.  Historically, the low-fat diet was not predicated on low cholesterol content or with good health in mind.  The Ethiopian diet was based on practicality.  Originally, in Ethiopia there was no refrigeration; therefore, in order to lengthen the shelf life of food, special techniques were developed to preserve foodstuffs as well as maintain the authenticity of our ancient cooking tradition.

The skin is removed from the chicken and the meat is marinated in fresh lemon juice overnight.  The acid from the lemon breaks down the fat of the chicken, causing the chicken to turn a salmon color.  The chicken is then rinsed and cooked in either our berbere sauce, a dark, rich, tangy and tasty barbeque-like sauce, or alecha-style, a savory, lighter sauce preparation that is also used on lamb.

Lamb is, by nature a very fatty meat and special effort has to be made to remove the fat.  First, the initial fat is trimmed.  The lamb is boiled and the fat is skimmed.  Following this, the lamb is rinsed thoroughly in hot water, then cooked in niter kibbe (butter), alecha-style.  This preparation with sauce is devoid of the pungent, waxy smell associated with cooking lamb, but rather, there is a sweet and tasty finished product that is low in saturated fats without noticeable aftertaste.

Our beef dishes are prepared using lean, red USDA choice cuts.  The fat-trimmed beef is cooked in purified butter and berbere sauce, producing a most tantalizing barbeque-like beef stew called zilzil-wat.

Niter kibbe is a purified, spicy butter.  To make this, we start with the finest quality butter and boil it with more than ten different herbs.  Then the top layer of fat is separated, leaving a purified, flavorful, low-fat product.

Injera (Ethiopian bread) is made with self-rising wheat flour or teff and water.  No dairy products, eggs, or shortening are used.

Ethiopia is the home of coffee plants.  The first coffee crops were raised in a place called Kaffa, which is where the name "coffee" originates.  While you are dining, specially produced Ethiopian coffee beans are roasted, ground, brewed, and served to provide you with the freshest, richest, and finest coffee to be savored in the world.

Ethiopian tea provides another unique drinking experience.  In the Ethiopian diet, there is no cane sugar!  However, when you drink the tea, it is noticeably sweet and light.  The reason is its natural ingredients, including rose hips, cinnamon, orange and lemon peel, cloves, and chamomile.  Ethiopian tea is tasty, refreshing, and good for you.