Ethiopian Cook
Tgist’s story
Tigist Tegegne is the founder of Rekebot Ethiopa, specialising in Ethiopian food and coffee. Rekebot is a reference to a traditional Ethiopian coffee serving set coming in a small cupboard to house the cups and pots. An apt name for the stall, whilst small, is warm and welcoming and jam packed with delicious potential. Tigist, the one woman show, not only makes Ethiopian coffee, famous for its fruity and floral notes, but also makes cosy and healthy food, most of which is vegan and gluten free.
Although injera and stews are some of the staple dishes, Ethiopia boasts a number of other wonderful dishes such as salata, a well-seasoned tomato salad, or fried and spiced bread with yoghurt for breakfast. Gomen be siga is also a very versatile dish – fried collard greens which are vegetarian on their own but can be added to meat stews.
Rekebot’s freshly made injera served with a variety of wat, spicy and thick vegetable stews, are market goer’s favourite and with good reason too! They’re tasty and sure to warm and revive anyone in the chillier months! Rekebot would be the perfect choice for anyone looking for good home-style cooking and cuisines less commonly found on the restaurant scene for smaller gatherings, and able to cater to dietary needs. With around 20,000 Ethiopian people living in the UK, people like Tigist are doing an amazing job to create a sense of communal home cooking, and share it more widely.
Ethiopian food is made to be shared. Injera, a crepe-like flat bread, is a staple and goes with everything. Made from teff flour it has a spongy texture and sour taste and pairs wonderfully with vegetarian curries and stews. Ethiopian cuisine uses a variety of spice mixtures but they aren’t too spicy, berbere is a common masala mix which adds a good warmth and seasoning to many dishes. Vegans and vegetarians will also feel right at home in Ethiopian cuisine, due to religious fasting several days of the week are dedicated to only eating vegan food so cooking is very friendly to vegetarians and vegans.