I love dabo very much, that is why I prefer to get a sandwich to a plated meal.
I eat a sandwich at least five a week I think, whether it’s a philly cheese steak, to a chicken pesto with roasted red pepper in olive bread panini. They have one called the Manhattan in Georgetown; I used to eat daily when I had worked nearby.
Grilled roast beef, fresh spinach, bacon and cheddar cheese on a French baguette with a touch of house dressing”
The dressing comes on the side, and you pour it on, before you eat, spinach with hot cheddar who would have thought. But it’s actually the baguette that I love, soaking it hot cheddar cheese and spinach and dressing, it’s actually my sister who got one for me some 13 years ago.
The whole family loves food, and they fight to say who found what. Anyone can find a fancy restaurant, but can you find a 5 dollar sandwich you don’t mind eating everyday?
In college, I used to get ambasha and eat it for two days. All I have to do is boil water in the microwave put the earl grey tea bag and I had lunch and dinner.
The roommate asked what it was, and I told him that it’s Ethiopian Bread. How can you just eat bread, he couldn’t understand the difference between ambasha and ‘just bread.’
Not to mention the fact that he tried to correct me,’ that its not Ethiopian Bread?‘You see to them, you know ferenjoch, Ethiopian Bread is actually Injera.
You know that thing you scoop the sauce with, ohh I love Ethiopian Bread.“
Some put it on a bed and take a picture! That is Ethiopian Bread art.
That is not our bread homeboy; that is injera, and there is no word for it in English, so you have to say injera or make a new word up. Ethiopian Bread is dabo; and we have different types of dabos.
We have dabo qolo,‘ that was a joke,’ but really we have Ambasha, Ebist, Buhe Dabo called Mul Mul, doro dabo, hibisti, birkuta, qita better than pita, Defo Dabo which is actually baked in Koba leaves; whatchu know about that ferenj?
Oh ya so I love all breads, I grew up dunking bread in tea. That was breakfast on weekdays. We saved the fir fir, che chebsa, genfo minamin for the weekends.
But the French know it best; I am talking about the baguette. A good fresh baguette is scrumptious and works with virtually anything. There was no Injera in Orange County, well where I was at in the summer of 2001. Ya, we ate kitfo with a baguette.
Everyday
We ate good everyday, I cooked everyday, I went to the grocery store everyday. And everyday I got fresh ingredients, fresh basil, fresh rosemary, fresh meat, but mostly a freshly baked baguette.
I went to bakery inside the grocery, and I would ask for one tall baguette and pay 1.19$ and go. It was so good there is a line after five. Everyday I would ask cashier for a baguette and she would ask I want anything else. I would say no and leave.
Anything else? anything else? anything else”
Oh faAkin Annoyin!, she asked everyone, by the time you reach the front of the line you have heard it seven times. I was fed up and so one I told her, “you know I come here everyday and everyday you ask me ‘if there is anything else?…’ well nothing else!”
My hope was she would never ask me that again. I went to get the daily bread the next day, and I could see her looking up with her peripheral vision, oh boy was she ready!
I knew she would stop and I couldn’t help but smile and walk up to her and ask for her for the baguette! You know what she asks me…
Published by August 30th, 2007 in Childhood, Personal and Social.Will that be all?
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OH…….. I am salivating for Ethiopian Dabo.
Now you are talking my language. I love bread. I can live on bread and tea. The rustic baguettes are my favorites other than hambasha of course. I also love kita, difo dabo, hibist, etc, etc etc… Now I am craving my mother’s hambasha…
Oh bless you child..i used to love dunking ye showa dabo bet timilmil dabo into ma tea ..misir wot be tsemuni dabo ena shai -(asseyyyy malet, chegwara eyenedede)…key wot & gomen be ambasha…tibinya be mitmita…emmmmmm…
reminds me many things from back home.. you forgot to mention Show dabo
……and I thought nobody loves it more than I do. I could live on dabo inna shai. My friends dread the moment I order tea with bread or biscuit etc…..coz half way through my tea comes their embarrassment(my joy!)…aha,doesn’t matter where I am, I end up mefetfeting my dabo and eating it with spoon….emmmmm!
this is not fair ,reading this ,and eating my so called bagel .what i would do for a nice piece of hambasha with tekure asmude .oh you right nolawi earl Grey goes so well , the aroma of the bergamont while sipping yammo….when i was in college i lived on bread and tea for days and days and completely satisfied .thanks you for sharing .
guest ,so what is your point?
lol….wudisha…me too hahahaa
It’s so funny…as I’m sitting here at work reading the article I’m actually eating some yummy ambasha with a nice cup of tea.
Wudnesh…that’s so hilarious – I can imagine the embarrassments of you’re friends.
Guest – Sorry but I accidentally deleted your comments…feel free to add your comments again.
I feel ya, Nol. That is my qurs everyday…My mother-in-law makes the best hambasha and I pack that in a zip lock bag every morning, bring it to work, make tea, dip it, dunk it and devour it…..ahhhhhhhhh….I have taught my 5 year old son to eat ambasha dipped in tea….he has learned to love it….
If we do not have the ambasha, I have to buy a croissant….
Oh this brought back childhood memories from Addis. Almost every other day after school while going home, I used to make my mother stop at ‘Shewa Dabo’ on Bole rd and get me a fresh baked Dabo. I still remember the aroma of the ‘Tikuse Dabo. I couldn’t wait to get home and used to eat most of it in the car. To this day nothing beats my bread from ‘Shewa Dabo’.
Dunking bread into tea; my son loves doing that; that is his favorite thing to do at church after the service is finished. He puts more sugar into the Tea which has sugar already to begin with. Eat it with the spoon; he eats several pieces of bread to the point he does not need lunch.
Ya i know some people used to not just dunk it but put it inside and then eat it with a spoon,
i thought that was ok, but i really think that its kind weird now that I think about it….
but every afternoon i eat a cookie with earl grey tea, its my desert. I have different types of cookies in the file cabinets of my cubical
how about dabo firfir?
how I miss Emamiye’s mulmuls…
nolawi, i know that place in GT. we used to go there whenever we hang out and need a bite sometimes. ahha the manhattan on french bread is one of my favorites too.
amazing how a simple daily bread can flood us with memories! has anybody been to ‘isregnaw Michael’? that’s the St. Michael church around kerchelie (not that I remember where exactly kerchelie is located.)
But every year (Timqet beAl) Emamye (my friend’s grandma, and our neighbor) used to take me to isregnaw michael. Her whole family…inne Etete, Itaba, ItAlem, Itutu, (sorry, luv luv those meTerias…. used every excuse to call out those ladies….coz we don’t use those in our house/family….they don’t have them in tigrigna), inne Negadiras, Atatye,itye…..huh every member of her family gathers in one of the tents by kerchelie…and it was a big feast. It wasn’t only because it was Timqet….we go there because the government lets out some prisoners (I guess those with less harsh crimes….such as Emamye’s brother, Atatye, who was in for something to do with real estate) for the day. Tens of tents were set up by different families who came there to celebrate Timqet with their loved ones who spent their days behind bars except for that day. So, we get to see her brother Atatye for the day and celebrate Timqet with him…..and the highlight of the day for me>>>>after 5pm when the guards take Atatye back, we go from etete’s hse to etaba’s…and so on…..aha, everyone of them has diggis at their house (don’t know if it was for the Timqet or for celebrating a day with Aatatye)…and for moi who was too young to feel their pain, diffo dabo was what made my day!
Oh my favorite thing dunking Dabo in a tea specially Defo Dabo. This childish behavior grown up with me and still dunk the Dabo in any type of drinks e.g. Soda, milk, juice etc. My friends always tease at me. I have not tried yet with alcohol so far. I still could not find Ambasha that has the same test like back home. I have tested a lot of them in D.C area but nothing test like the Ambasha back home. Don’t get me wrong, they have the same look but not the test!
Sorry, I meant to say “taste” not test:)
yeah lemat, the Ambasha they make in dc is kinda soft like panataone
there is nothing like the ones they bring from back home. i miss my grand ma who used to bring us the real thing.
Thanks Nol now I want tea with dabo, that is whats for dinner tonight!!
Thank you for sharing our shared love for shaye be dabo!!
I just ate my first Mul mul the other day in 6 yrs Ayasazinim? Weyen anbesaw besew hager gud lihun? haha
Tnx Nol as always for makin’ me worder bout hagere!
One other thing, i am goin’ to be in DC area for the newyear thing and i would like to buy some Tee. Holla at me Nol
Why can’t you make an online transactions just like the rest of the customers.
Sorry dude i wasn’t tryin’ to be an ahole, i know i could do that bu i thought ya guys would have a place to sell the tee since a lot of ppl are expectin’ to go to DC area for the new year and all. That is all Nol, I’ve read your “Gullit Mentality” article, I have to admit i like what you say but that is not what i was tryin’ to do aight Playa, I came here wiz my white flag! haha
let me know if you guy have a plan to do that or somethin’
wunetim werenga lij, just make you purchace online and tell you friends how you got it
!
Wodenesh your number # 5 commnet killed me. I do that all the time and everybody thinks it’s so gross. Forget the ppl at mytable, if we are at a resturant, I can see how ppl look at me with disgust from the at nearby table. But Do I really care ? NOPE….lol….I thought I was the only one who does that at this day and time. I’m so happy you said it……..
The only thing I don’t like about it is, at the end of the tea with my dabo fitfit..I get heart burn, but it’s worth the satisfaction I get by eating the tea with dabo fitfit……
This is non sense. Why can’t you come up with somethn interesting. Couple of kids, who got nothing to do with their time, sit and talk about Dabo. lol what a sad people u are!
Zebene - nobody is forcing you to stay…
[quote comment="74251"]This is non sense. Why can’t you come up with somethn interesting. Couple of kids, who got nothing to do with their time, sit and talk about Dabo. lol what a sad people u are![/quote]
as the saying goes, kelij ga’r atichawet, yi’wogahal benche’t or Grissini!
For SOME reason, the thought and smell of difo dabo and mul mul aggravates me…
Dabo be inqulal, on the other hand, makes me salivate even if I am not hungry or not in the mood to eat. It did this morning - when i smelled it after being stuffed with fitfit. I think it is the thought of me craving for it as a kid. I am conditioned to salivate for its smell, as Pavlov’s dogs were conditioned to salivate for the bell.
#27 I see that you have time to write this nonsense comment too. What should we call you? What a shame!
owwwwwwwww Grissini…..i saw some while i was in VA last week….yummmm how i used to love Grissini….(atleast that is what i think they are called :/)
ya u are right alpha its called grissini!
i love defo dabo with tiKil gomen…its the best
In my house everytime there is a amtbal tiKil gomen is made just for me so i can have it with defo dabo
What an article! Thank you for bringing back so many memories.
Another one of my missing comments?
Did you guys update or something?
Anyway, I love Dabo and I also learned how to make abesha dabo. Yes I is bery proud and it was with berbere too. Got the recipe from our Adey. Thanks sweetie (emua) to you for learning me to make some berbere dabo
When I got compliments on it I gave all credit to you and I said you was “one silly off your rocker woman I have never met” 
Outside of Abesha dabo I love sour dough bread just love it. I love sour anything but bread is to die for especially with qemem shay emmmmm.
I just love, love, love the new look of the screen for the comments section. I like that it takes up the full page. Very easy to read. Great job Nolawi!