Tef and injera and other Ethiopia Local Custom Tips

The injera, the national staple, serving as a base for every meal, is made of tef.
Tef is an Ethiopian indigenous cereal growing in the highlands.

There are different qualities of tef, the wither the colour, the better the quality. At the market of Bahir Dar they showed us these sacks with different qualities of tef.

The best injera can be found in the highlands, a pale, thin and smooth pancake, always made of tef.
In the lowlands of Ethiopia you can also find darker and thicker injera of lower quality, made of millet of sorghum.

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At the market of Aksum we saw these colourful woven mesobs like a basket. Mesobs are the traditional hourglass-shaped tables for serving the traditional injera, the pancake made of tef, the local cereal.

In many restaurants you will find beside the standard tables some of these traditional tables. So enjoy your communal injera with some friends, eating of the same plate with your hands, sorry, your right hand only.

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At the Lake Tana, but also at other places in Ethiopia you will see tankwas, boats made of papyrus.

In Weyto, a village at the southern shore of Lake Tana, 2 KM west of Bahir Dar, the villagers still have the skills to build these traditional tankwas like is they allready do for centuries.

Allthough these papyrus boats don't look very strong, they can carry huge loads, some passengers and even cows.

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Along the road in the northern countryside we met a lot of men, wearing a dula. The dula is a wooden staff and travel companion of almost every Amhara man. This hardwood staff of about 1 M serves purposes like carrying loads to and from the market, leaning on during long churchservices or defending oneself against unfriendly dogs.

In the northern highlands the men wrapped themselves in their gabis, the coloured thicker version of the shamma The white-coloured traditonal shamma is worn by women at the picture.

In the past the men used these gabis, spun around the left arm, also as a quick shield, using the dula with their right arm to offend or to defend.

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The local shamma is a white cloth or toga, which men and women wear, when they go to church, but you will also see men and women in the streets, wrapped in their shamma. White is the colour of purity.

Women wear also the natala, a shamma with a nicely decorated border or tibeb.
Everywhere in the streets or at the markets you can find shops or stalls, selling these colourful natalas. At the market of Aksum we had to pay about 40 birr.

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In the area north of Arba Minch the Dorze people prepare enset as staple for their meal. The enset or false banana (Musa ensete) is a unfertile banana plant. This plant is allready cultivated in this part of Ethiopia for millenia.

When we visited the Dorze area, we were invited in a compound for an explanation about the laborious process of preparation.

First they cut a piece from the trunk of the bananatree, which has to be scraped to remove all fibres. Next this will be beaten into a white pulp. This pulp is buried in a pit in the corner of the compound.

The woman, who showed us the process, gave us some of the pulp, that allready was buried for several weeks. It tasted like unleavened bread with some banana flavour or was that only imagination ? The Dorze people use the enset as staple and porridge.

For more information about the enset and Dorze people have a look at my Arba Minch page.

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The Mursi women in te Lower Omo Valley are known, because they are wearing lipplates. The lower lip of the girls at age of 15 or 16 is pierced, so they can wear a plate. The larger the plate the higher the social status and the bride price.

There are different theories about the lipplates. At one hand it's considered as a sign of beauty. At the other hand it is thought, that this custom started to make the women undesirable for slave trade.

If there are no men or visitors around or if eating, the women don't wear the plate. Then their lower lip dangles from their mouth.

For more information and pictures of the Mursi people, have a look at my Jinka page.

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At the Dimeka market north of Turmi we saw the local hairstyles. Women rub a mixture of ochre and fat in their hair, making coppery-coloured tresses, known as goscha.

At the market we also saw some men with remarkable hairstyles. If a man has killed an enemy or dangerous animal, he is permitted to rub coloured clay in his hair, sometimes also decorated with feathers. This hairstyle can last for almost 6 months. That's why the man needs a headrest for sleeping.

For more information and pictures have a look at my Turmi page.

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