Today’s A Journey
through Aesthetic Realms
will be presented
in Amharic,
with subtitles in Amharic, Arabic,
Aulacese (Vietnamese), Aulacese (Vietnamese),
Chinese, English,
French, German,
Hungarian, Indonesian, Hungarian, Indonesian,
Italian, Japanese,
Korean, Malay,
Mongolian, Persian,
Portuguese, Russian,
and Spanish.
Greetings, kind viewers,
and welcome
to another episode of
A Journey through
Aesthetic Realms.
On today’s program
we’ll explore
the Ethiopian injera
and coffee culture,
and discover the birthplace
of coffee or “bunna,”
as it is called in Amharic.
The beautiful country
of Ethiopia, located
in northeast Africa, has
many wonderful customs
associated with delectable
food and beverages.
Inspired by the Orthodox
Church tradition,
Ethiopian cuisine
is famous for its
delicious vegan dishes.
While diverse cultures
exist in the nation,
typical Ethiopian meals
feature a sourdough
flatbread or injera,
various spicy vegetable
dishes called “wats,”
as well as an after-meal
espresso-style coffee.
Let’s first take a look at
how injera is prepared.
Now I am going to show
how to make teff injera.
Teff is native to Ethiopia.
Teff has three varieties;
we call them white,
mixed, and red teff.
Teff contains iron
and also other nutrients.
The most widely used food
in Ethiopia is teff.
Teff can be eaten
with anything.
Teff’s straw
is called “chid.”
And the straw is used
for making
traditional mud houses
by mixing with mud.
The grain looks like this.
This is white teff grain.
It is sifted, cleaned
and ground.
After grinding,
the flour looks like this.
This is white teff.
I put the white teff flour
in here and knead it.
We knead it,
and we add yeast to it.
We can make one to two
injeras from this.
We ferment it.
This is the fermented teff.
It has been three days
since we made this dough.
We add “absit.”
Absit is made by adding
teff flour to boiling water,
then we put it
to the fermented dough
after it cools down.
Then we wait for
about an hour.
Making injera requires
very simple
yet special equipment.
This is called “gulcha.”
We put the griddle
on 3 gulchas used to
support the griddle.
And this is “mitad.”
It is called
“ye’injera mitad.”
And it is used
to make injera and
many other things too.
We can also use it
to bake bread.
This is called “akenbalo;”
it is made from black soil,
ash and mud.
And this one
is made from clay soil.
This is clay soil.
To make the best injera,
it is very important
to heat the griddle
evenly and thoroughly.
We sprinkle something
to ignite the firewood,
to burn the firewood fast.
Then we sprinkle
Ethiopian cabbage
seed powder.
It will tell us
when the griddle glows.
It is called “gomen zer.”
It makes the griddle
more beautiful.
It takes 30 minutes.
When it glows,
we clean the powder
and put the dough on it.
Now we need to add
some firewood on all sides
to burn the fire well
for the griddle to glow well.
We need some straw
to burn the fire well.
We use this to set the fire.
It will have smoke
while burning.
Once the griddle
is thoroughly heated,
it’s ready to make injera.
This is a cleaning cloth.
I am cleaning, like this,
to give the griddle
a beautiful sheen
and so that the injera
will not stick to it.
Now we bake the injera.
This is called circling.
Circling injera.
Now it is hot enough.
We cover the lid after it
forms some kind of holes.
So, it takes
some 3 minutes to bake.
It needs to be baked well.
And this “sefed”
is to take out injera.
This is
where we put the injera.
Now we take out the injera.
We detach the edges
like this
to avoid tearing off.
Then we put the sefed under.
Yes. I put it here.
This is “mesob”
for injera.
Injera is often
torn into small strips
and served with “wats”
or vegetable dishes.
After a satisfying meal
with scrumptious injera,
it’s time for coffee.
The story of coffee
begins in Ethiopia,
the original home
of the coffee plant,
Coffea arabica,
which still grows wild
in the country’s
forested highlands.
It is believed that
coffee cultivation and use
began as early as
the 9th century.
And from this long history
of coffee cultivation
arose the tradition
of the Ethiopian
coffee ceremony,
an integral part
of the nation’s
social and cultural life.
An invitation to attend
a coffee ceremony
is considered a mark
of friendship or respect
and is an excellent example
of Ethiopian hospitality.
So why not sit back
with a cup of coffee
and enjoy the show?
Coffee was found for
the first time in Ethiopia,
from a region called Kaffa.
The word “coffee”
is derived
from the word “Kaffa.”
The traditional Ethiopian
coffee ceremony includes
the processes of roasting,
grinding, brewing,
and serving coffee.
Special equipment is used
for each of these steps.
This is “jebena”
for boiling coffee.
This is
where we put the jebena.
This is called “rekebot.”
This is “sini”
for drinking coffee.
This is
where we put the incense.
To put these inside.
Then, this is where
we burn the incense.
This is called “biret mitad”
(iron griddle).
This is a roasting metal.
This is a roasting furnace.
These are the coffee beans
to roast.
This is “mukecha” (mortar),
for grinding
the coffee beans.
This is “zenezena”
(metal stick).
This is green grass.
We spread it on the ground
during holidays
to symbolize good wishes
and lushness.
This is how we dress
during the coffee ceremony
in holidays to prepare
coffee for our guests.
The coffee ceremony
begins with roasting
the green coffee beans
over a hot stove.
My coffee beans look ready,
I will take them out
when their color
changes to black.
Now the coffee is ready.
We are going to take it out.
We make it like this
because it has aroma.
It is to spread the aroma
to people. Like that.
Now with this mortar
we grind it
after it cools down.
Here are our coffee beans.
This is our coffee mortar.
We grind it
with this zenezena.
When the powder is fine
after this,
we put it in the jebena.
Now the powder is fine.
The pot for cooking coffee
is called jebena,
a simple wheel-turned
pottery vessel
with a neck and a handle.
The water is boiling.
We pour it into the jebena.
We rinse the jebena.
Now since the powder
is fine, we put it here.
Now,
after adding the powder,
we add hot water.
Now, we should check
the strength of the coffee.
Too much powder,
so we add a little water.
So, we put it
on the charcoal.
This is the jebena lid.
A lid for this.
You can eat “yebuna qurs”
until it boils. Come take.
We burn our incense well.
These are tongs
to pick up embers.
Tongs are used
to adjust this.
This is to pick this up.
When the smoke flares,
our coffee ceremony
will be nice.
We will check like this
so as to avoid boiling over.
We do this to facilitate
the charcoal burning.
When the coffee boils,
it produces vapor.
Now the coffee is boiling.
Here it is.
We put it like this
for sedimentation.
We serve the coffee
when it sediments.
Now it is ready.
After pouring like this,
we add sugar, or nothing,
according to people’s needs.
This is
an Ethiopian cup, sini.
We drink coffee
with these bigger cups.
Coffee grounds
are brewed three times
during the ceremony.
At the same time,
incense is burned.
This, the first one,
is called “abol.”
The second “tona.”
The third “bereka.”
Now, this water is
for the second and third.
Yes, now the second or tona
is put on the furnace.
We can chat
and eat yebuna qurs
while waiting for it to boil.
First, we rinse the cups,
and make them ready
for the second round.
Ethiopian coffee ceremony
is like this;
it is very incredible.
Now the second or tona
is ready.
We put it here
for a while to sediment.
We put this here
for the next,
to boil for the third round
or for the bereka.
This is it!
Now the third or
what we call bereka
is ready. This is it;
we have finished now.
Delighting
in the aroma and richness
of freshly ground
and lovingly brewed
Ethiopian coffee,
one is sure to feel relaxed.
Today, we presented
the injera making
and coffee ceremony
of Ethiopia.
Our many thanks,
Ms. Tsehay Mulugeta,
for demonstrating
your gracious tradition.
May these
time-honored customs
continue to be
joyfully practiced by
the gentle Ethiopian people
for eons to come.
Caring viewers,
thank you for
sharing a fantastic time
with us today on
A Journey through
Aesthetic Realms.
Up next
on Supreme Master
Television is
Vegetarianism:
The Noble Way of Living,
after Noteworthy News.
May your journey on Earth
be illuminated
with Divine wisdom
and compassion.