How to Travel the World Without Leaving Home

            If you're like me, you love to travel to new places, eat new foods, try things that are entirely bizarre and unique experiences. I find that it is in the realm of things that are "new" and "different" where the best memories are made, and these memories become a vault of stories to pull from when in a social setting. But traveling isn't always cheap and is often difficult with busy work schedules. Sadly, for that very reason, many people with the travel bug will never get to experience many countries of the world which have cultural rituals that are like nothing they've ever seen and offer foods which will expand the boundaries of the taste buds. But if you're a resident of Southern California, I'd like to show you how we travelers can get a small taste of many of these countries which we would love to go to, simply by driving to downtown Los Angeles.

            Take, for example, Little Ethiopia. Little Ethiopia is only a small stretch of Fairfax Avenue in West L.A. that dates back to the early 1990's. This part of Fairfax has been claimed by Ethiopian restaurants, business, and residents as the representative microcosm of Ethiopia in America. For as long as I can remember my family has been visiting one restaurant in this part of town called Merkato. We've always loved Ethiopian food for its bold and complex flavor—oh, and did I mention that my family used to live in Ethiopia for two years? So the opinions of this writer will let you know that the taste you'll receive at Merkato is distinctly authentic.

            I wanted to take a group of friends to Merkato to challenge them to step outside their borders and try something new. So we drove down in a couple cars to L.A., and I told them nothing about what to expect. When we got to Fairfax Avenue, it was dark and the night life was picking up. Cars filled the streets, lights lit up the skies, and Ethiopian and Rastafarian residents littered the sidewalks (for all you history junkies, the Rastafarian movement began in Ethiopia, hence their prominence in Little Ethiopia).

            I led them to the restaurant, and when we went inside, they were all amazed at the different world they had just stepped in to. Small, round baket-woven tables with teepee-looking tops called mesobs was not what any of them were expecting. And around each mesob were five or six barchumas, or stools, that were only about eight inches off the ground. So we all took our seats on our own barchuma and we got a menu that none of us could read (including myself!). I had never learned the language of Ethiopia, called Amharic, because I was so young when I was there; but I had been eating Ethiopian food long enough to know what to order! So I ordered for us all. For meats we got yesiga zilzil tibs, strips of tender beef sauteed in spices with onions and peppers over a charcoal grill, doro wot, a spicy chicken stew with hard boiled eggs, and yebeg alicha, a mild lamb stew made with a base of chopped onions and spices including tumeric, garlic, and ginger; for vegetable stews (which are stable foods for most poor Ethiopians) I ordered yemisir wot, red lentil stew with onions, berbere, and fresh garlic and ginger, shiro wot, chickpea flour cooked with sauteed onions in a berbere sauce, gomen wot, collard greens cooked with onion, garlic and spices, and yatakilt alicha, a mixture of cabbage, potatoes, onions and carrots cooked in mild spices.

            Once the food was ordered we were able to take in the fullness of Merkato's ambience. Traditional Ethiopian music played throughout the restaurant and paintings covered the walls. The art of Ethiopia is often graphic and depicts war or hunting journeys. In one of the hunting paintings in Merkato, there are many poachers killing elephants, but some of the poachers are being killed themselves. Ethiopian art also includes many portraits and religious paintings. In addition to the paintings, the walls were covered with tapestry resembling animal skin. Around us were several Ethiopian people speaking Amharic to each other, some smoking as is permitted in this restaurant. The smell of freshly roasted coffee wafted through the room. Ethiopians often have coffee after a meal and roast the beans from green to black in a pan over a stove, and then let the ground beans steep in hot water for an espresso-like dessert.

            About twenty-five minutes passed and the food finally came. This kind of service might be considered slow for most Americans, but for Ethiopians, time is never a problem; in fact, many think it is rude to rush the customers by bringing the food, drinks, and check quickly because conversation is a large part of the dining experience. What the server placed on the mesob in front of us was a large round dish with an assortment of veggies and meats all in their own piles, scattered across the platter. My friends looked at the food in bewilderment, excited but nervous to try this new fare.

            Miah, one of my friends, asked, "Where's the silverware?" I replied, "Nature already gave it to you!" and lifted my hands to show that in Ethiopia, you eat with your fingers. "But you need to use the injera of course." Injera is a spongy, sourdough-like pancake that is made from teff, a grass native to Ethiopia. It has a natural salty and iron taste to it and is a perfect complement to the sweet and spicy dishes.

            I took the injera from the plate where a pile of injera rolls were, and ripping off a piece the size of my palm, I showed them how to eat food like a native Ethiopian. You use a piece of injera and grab a small handful of meat or veggies. Feel free to mix the flavors too! I reached in to the communal platter which we all would share and grabbed some yebeg alicha and put it in my mouth. The familiar taste of different herbs and spices made me feel at home. Miah eagerly grabbed a piece of injera to follow after me. He took a bite and his face changed from mild skepticism to pure delight. A similar reaction took place for the other four who were with us. Later they told me that they all had the same response, and they were all surprised at how good the food was and said that the overall experience was nothing less than enjoyable.

            I love to try new foods, and that's why I love L.A.'s diversity where I can explore Thai, Vietnamese, Peruvian and a wide selection of other ethnic foods. Check out Little Korea too, if you haven't been there! I can travel the world without ever leaving home! If you're one of those people like me, don't skip Ethiopian because that will likely be on the top of your list of strangest and most foreign foods.