Special Fool

From Africa 2007

Anyone who is reading this blog that knows me (espcially my wife and girls), knows that I'm a big eater. Big. Really big. There is very little that I don't like to eat. The trip to Africa so far has been good for my taste buds, amazing steaks on the safari and amazing Indian food in Nairobi.

My travel mate, shown in the picture above is a slightly (that's an understatement) more picky eater. The guy won't touch a tomato. We had dinner at this incredible local place our first night in Asebe Teferi, Ethiopia and ate something called Sheklativs (no idea on spelling).

Sheklativs is goat meat served over hot coals in a porcelain thingy with hot chilies and onions. It's served with bread. Let me just say that by the end of the meal, my plate was way happier than David's plate. He'd argue that the meat was a bit tough (it was), but it was so tasty, I just plowed through it. I wanted to reach over and eat the rest of his, but I managed to restrain myself.

That dish, along with just about everything in Ethiopia is also served with super duper hot chili pepper and sauce which I think is called burberry or meatmita. I couldn't understand what they were saying because my tounge was burning off. I dipped my bread into it and took a big bite. Everyone had a good laugh at me as I gulped down half a liter of water and played it cool. Smooth move eh?

The next morning we were treated to an amazing breakfast at a roadside restaurant. The dish, "Special Fool" (so apropos it's silly eh?) is a mixture of lentils, scrambled eggs, garlic and oil and again served with bread was so tasty I was almost fell out of my chair. I think David liked this one a bit better, but again, he didn't finish and I had to sit on my hands as to not appear to be the garbage pail that I am when it comes to food.

I want to thank Marijana for suggesting and dragging us to these fine establishments - the food was really amazing.