Eating into Africa

At Goha and Nile, you won't just lick your plate, you'll eat the whole thing

The culture and cuisine of Ethiopia may be a mystery to most Nashvillians, but one needs only to travel as far east as Murfreesboro Pike to sample a host of intriguing foods and dining customs.

A sizable Ethiopian community has flourished there, and a number of businesses and dining establishments have emerged to serve the community. This summer, two new restaurants, Goha and Nile, joined those ranks, each offering similar menus in very different, yet authentic venues. Because Ethiopian dining is a true communal experience, both places are best explored with a group.

 

Goha

You'll be drawn in by the bright yellow of this painted brick ranch, transformed by Debere Getahun and her husband, Dawit Lema, into a cozy, welcoming restaurant.

The front rooms have been opened up to create airy dining areas. Cream-colored walls are decorated with ceremonial dresses, weavings and Ethiopic travel posters. A low table, set up with small cups for the coffee ceremony, is in one corner. In the background are recorded sounds of traditional music, pulsating rhythms of flutes and drum.

We chose the spicy stews, known as wats. These are prepared with most meats (but never pork - forbidden by Orthodox Christian and Islam religions), poultry and occasionally fish. As Orthodox Christians fast from meat every Wednesday and Friday, vegetable wats play key roles in the diet.

All foods are served atop injera, the foundation of Ethiopian cooking. Made from the indigenous nutlike grain tef, this nutrient-rich carb is mixed with water and allowed to lightly ferment - one  to three days - before it is cooked into a distinctively tart spongy pancake.

We relished the Bozena Shiro Wat. Tender beef pieces were cooked in a piquant stew made from ground yellow peas and berbere, a complex spice mixture particular to Ethiopia. Berbere is made by combining ground toasted cayenne and chili peppers, ginger, fenugreek, cardamom, cinnamon, cumin and cloves. In seasoning the wats, the berbere imparts those fiery layers of spice throughout the stew. We also ordered a vegetarian sampler, a selection of six dabbed on the injera like a painter's palette: tomato salad, zesty with lime and jalapeno, turmeric cooked sweet cabbage and carrots, sautéed fresh collards, mild, earthy green lentils, pureed split yellow peas and peppery red lentil stew. All were fresh and delicious.

If you have the time, indulge in the coffee ceremony. Ethiopia is the birthplace of the bean and the coffee, prepared in a ritual of roasting, grinding and brewing, makes for a rich time. .

 

Nile

Set in the Kmart-anchored shopping center, Nile Ethiopian Restaurant has the feel of a hole-in-the-wall cantina - in a good way. Décor is spare; each wall is painted a color of the Ethiopian flag and decorated with a few wall hangings and unobtrusive flat-screened televisions. The room is clean and open, with a scattering of tables over tiled floor. At the back are a counter and a cooler full of bottled beers and soft drinks, and centered along one wall is a small stage with speakers to either side.

Nile is run by owner Gelila Feyisa. She is also the chef and recommended the special of the day, chicken tibs. Tibs are cubed pieces of meat or poultry, spiced and sautéed with finely chopped onion, jalapeno peppers, tomato and rosemary. We took her recommendation, ordering chicken and lamb tibs.

While awaiting our main course, we shared an avocado salad: a plate of iceberg teeming with sliced avocado, tomato, red onion, peppers and red cabbage. Dressed in refreshing lime vinaigrette, it was topped with dry cottage cheese crumbles - like mild feta.

When our amply portioned tibs arrived, our server spooned each onto opposite ends of the injera, before setting down a bowl of awaze sauce with her endorsement: "This is very special sauce." A blend of berbere and herbed butter, the awaze had fiery deep, almost bitter notes, reminiscent of molé. Although the tibs were already well-seasoned, a dip in the awaze was breath-taking. The lamb was juicy, and the tender chicken tibs, prepared with boneless breast, quickly vanished in scoops of injera.

The evening entertainment is a big draw for this little place.

"We do feature traditional Ethiopian musicians and singers," Gelila said. "Especially when we celebrated our new year."

Where the rest of the world is spinning out the last quarter of 2009, in Ethiopia it just turned 2002. Who knew? It's liberating to make those cultural leaps.