The latest of the recent mini-explosion of Ethiopian restaurants in downtown Bethesda is still working towards opening in the old Heckman's space at 4914 Cordell Avenue. They have applied for a liquor license, and their hearing is scheduled for July 5.
Delina Eritrean Urban Kitchen will serve both Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine.
How is Eritrean cuisine different from Ethiopian cuisine? The spices? Certain dishes are unique to one but not the other?
ReplyDeleteThey'll all be closed. No one wants that food.
ReplyDeleteTo an American, the cuisines are very similar, with injera and a lot of the spices, styles and main ingredients in common. Here in the U.S., it'd be a little bit like Northern vs Southern cooking, more of a regional difference. Eritrean tends not mix meat and veg in the same dish. Use more tomatoes and eggplant, while Ethiopian uses more onions and carrots. But I suspect that most restaurants in the U.S. tend to mix the two, the way I, as a Yankee, would still have shrimp and grits and black eyed peas on my menus and Eritrean might often have more to do with the ethnicity of the owner/chef and their feeling that customers in their locale aren't going to be afraid of something less familiar.
ReplyDeleteLike Anonymous 7:09. Dude, just because you don't like it...way to trash an entire cuisine, not to mention culture. Pretty sure the entire Ethiopian/Eritrean community does. And lots of us Americans absolutely love it. I'm so psyched that we have a wealth of Ethiopian/Eritrean restaurants in this county - my house eats Ethiopian at least twice a month. It could well be our favorite take-out/take-home food.