As they continue their whirlwind tour of D.C., my friend Joe and his family decided to be brave and stretch their culinary horizons, and wanted to try Ethiopean cuisine, something which isn't available in their home state of Florida. We made plans to eat at Dukem on U Street, which I've always thought was one of the very best Ethiopean restaurants in the District. I showed up at the appointed time, however, and found only Joe and his daughter Mary; the teenaged boys decided that Ethiopean was too weird, especially since there was some basketball game on television last night that they could watch in their hotel suite at the Hamilton.
So, it was just the three of us.
We had our waitress Yodit select our foods, since I've always found that to be the best way to introduce "Ethiopean food virgins" to the wonderful cuisine. While we waited, she brought us glasses of tej, a very sweet Ethiopean wine made from honey, very similar to European mead.
Our food arrived on a big sheet of injera, the traditional Ethiopean bread made of sourdough from teff flour, served on a big platter for everyone at the table to share. You can also see a plate of folded injera, which we would later use to pick up and eat our food—Ethiopeans don't use silverware!
I wish I knew what all the food names were, but we had several beef dishes, some lamb, some chicken, some cheese, some lentils, and a whole bunch of different vegetables. It's all good, some mild, some hot and spicy, and I've always found the foods at Dukem to be very artfully prepared and delicious.
We also had a nice visit, and I'm looking forward to Mary's next visit to D.C. without the kids.
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