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You'll need the largest Teflon skillet you can find and a high
round tray, at least fifteen inches in diameter.
It would be impossible to make Injera, the pancake which serves
as a "tablecloth," for it is made in Ethiopia with Tef, a flour not
available here. The closest substitute devised in our test kitchen
is a large buckwheat pancake which does not taste exactly like
Injera but is similar in texture and color. (You will like the
buckwheat pancake more than the actual Injera.)
Make four or five 9- to 10-inch pancakes as the recipe directs
and overlap them on the 15 inch tray to look like a "tablecloth,"
letting the outer edges overlap the tray. Place the tray on a bridge
table or a small round table around which your guests are crowded
side by side on bridge chairs or stools. (If you prefer you can use
a low coffee table with small stools all around and have two or
three of your guests sit on the sofa.) Conduct the hand-washing
ceremony as described earlier before you serve the meal.
The tray containing the large pancakes should be covered with
aluminum foil. Remove the foil when the tray is placed on the table.
Bring in the bowls of Wat, one at a time. Ladle out right on the
Injera one portion of Doro (chicken) Wat and one hard-boiled egg to
each guest- then serve the Lamb Wat, the lab (a cottage cheese and
yogurt mixture), and the Kitfo until the Injera is covered with
individual portions of food. Everyone eats from the tray but has his
part of the dinner in front of him.
Keep folding tables handy at easy access to each guest for his
beverage- Tella (beer) or just plain carbonated water. If you can
find attractive decanters with round bottoms, small enough for one
cup, it might be fun to serve the honey wine to each guest in this
manner. He would then drink it right from the bottle.
Provide forks for the uninitiated who may give up before they
learn to eat in the traditional way. One important warning when
using buckwheat Injera; the stews should be thick enough so that
they do not soak through the pancake.
When the food and the Injera "tablecloth" are completely
consumed, dinner is over.
Coffee in demitasse cups is served right after dinner. Later,
much later, you can serve slices of fresh pineapple or melon, and
Dabo Kolo, the tiny, fried, snack-like cookies so popular in
Ethiopia.
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