Got a hankering for some truly authentic cuisine from all corners of the globe, then Newcastle’s King St is the go-to destination.
In just a couple of hundred metres you can trip between Spanish tapas, a French patisserie, traditional Italian pizzas and even Eastern European zakuski.
But perhaps the most interesting of them all is Habesha Ethiopian Restaurant.
Unfamiliar to most Ethiopian cuisine is best described by owner Lidya Stapleton as being, “Different from anything you have ever had before.”
Much of the flavour comes from the variety of spices that are infused into each of the dishes, imported direct from Ethiopia, in many cases the spices
take just as long to prepare as the meals themselves.
As with the cuisine, Ethiopian food culture is as equally interesting with the etiquette being to eat all dishes with your hands. To make things a little
easier most meals are served alongside injera, the staple food of the country. This soft and spongy flat bread perfectly soaks up the stewed flavours
of the Doro Wot, a marinated chicken dish cooked in mild Ethiopian spiced clarified butter and a tomato, onion and garlic based sauce which is then
topped off with a boiled free range egg.
Or the Miser Wot, a braised split red lentils dish that’s cooked in a tomato, onion, ginger and garlic sauce, finished in mild Ethiopian spiced clarified
butter.
To complete the Habesha experience at the end of your meal you will enjoy the traditional hand washing ceremony that is customary in Ethiopia. With the
hands being such a vital part of the eating process time is take to make sure everything is clean.
