At our board meeting today, one of our board members treated us by bringing some homemade Ethiopian bread, called Ambasha. I much prefer this particlar type of Ethiopian bread, to their more abundant staple bread, called injera. Injera is a bit sour to me, and just not all that delightful to eat. But ambasha...well, a whole different story! It is slightly sweet, and made with honey!
Ambasha went over well with the family! Everyone enjoyed it over dinner tonight, and it was a real treat to be able to share some Ethiopian food with my family. When I am actually in the country of Ethiopia, I actually don't get to enjoy Ambasha because our partners are very careful with what they allow us to eat, and what they do not - so that they keep us healthy and strong. For the most part, we don't eat ANYTHING given to us in the villages. Those are the days we live on our protein bars! Even though the bread is baked, it is the contaminated elements involved in the preparation that can cause us to get very sick. For example, most of the time the people baking the bread have very contaminated hands, and even the plates and bowls in which they prep the ingredients in, are very dirty. Also, remember, for the most part, there is not even any clean water in which they can wash their hands, nor the dishes they use to cook and bake...so yes, a filthy situation with tons of contamination. So....I had to come all the way back to America to enjoy an Ethiopian treat!
Our board member that brought the bread has a son that he adopted from Ethiopia. His son and daughter-in-law (also Ethiopian) and their children, live in San Antonio. Alganesh (daughter-in-law) graciously prepared this bread for us! Thank you Alganesh!
Their family story is amazing (and I will have to share it some day on this blog!). Anyhow, I thought I would share a simple post about our enjoyable evening with ambasha at the dinner table. Also, I have included a picture of a traditional Ethiopian dinner (served on the traditional injera bread) from a night that my husband and I went and enjoyed Ethiopian food at a restaurant in Pflugerville. Enjoy!
