December 9, 2007

Tibs Wat

We were recently given an amazing new cookbook (thanks M&P!) that I highly recommend to anyone interested in learning about African cuisine. The book, "The Soul of a New Cuisine: A Discovery of the Foods and Flavors of Africa" was written by Ethiopian chef Marcus Samuelsson and includes everything from spice & sauce preparation to elaborate stews and of course injera. Today we prepared our first Ethiopian dish, Tibs Wat, and it was delicious! I think we spent the most money ever at the grocery store solely on spices (note to self: bring back LOTS of cardamom from Ethiopia!) but it was so worth it. Tibs Wat is a slightly spicy, gingery, garlicky, beef stew which is traditionally eaten with injera. We didn't tackle our first try at injera today but plan to in the near future.

Cheers to fabulous friends and fabulous cookbooks!



On the adoption front, we haven't heard back from our agency regarding the status of our dossier but at this point no news is good news - it just means that they don't need any more documents from us. So, hopefully their original estimation of the dossier arriving in Ethiopia somewhere between December 18-22 still holds. The last 4 CHI families to receive referrals all got their calls within 2.5 months of the dossier arriving in Ethiopia which means we could realistically receive ours late February/early March! Our first Amharic class with our Ethiopian tutor is scheduled for January 7th and we can't wait to get started - A March referral & May travel date leaves us with 5 months to learn as much of the language as possible - hopefully we'll catch on quickly.

So, for the next several months we'll be attempting to master (or at least moderately succeed at) the art of African/Ethiopian cooking and doing our best to learn the basics of the Amharic language. There's nothing better to pass the time than taking on a few new hobbies!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

You guys are great. By the time we travel you will be close to being a "local"! Hey, I've got an idea. Let's find a recipe to bring to the Campanaro Christmas eve celebration. It will be fun to mix African and Italian flavors. If you have room bring the cookbook home. Grandma C

Cloverland Farm said...

i almost bought that book the other day in anthropologie, but added to my amazon wish list for xmas instead! so, the recipes are do-able?
and wow...your agency gets referrals out quick! we're w/ Wide Horizons and it's up to 18 mos for an infant...but that time frame is great for us b/c I'm trying to get thru as much of my phd course work as possible. anyway...here's to a speedy referral for you guys! have a great week.
laura

Gretchen said...

I love reading your updates....

My name is Courtney- my husband and I are planning on going with the same agency you are using. Right now I feel stuck due to finances. Might you have any hints on whether or not we should go ahead and get in with CHI- or would you suggest waiting until we have more money put together to move forward quickly? Does the agency recommend waiting or could we just sign on and hang out for a bit?

Lots of questions here- I'm just so pumped to get moving and would like to hear from others before contacting CHI with these questions. But perhaps that should be my next move....

Thanks for your patience and input!

The Journey said...

I think tibs watt will go great with baccala!

Stacie said...

Yum. I'm impressed. We've had that cookbook for about 9 months now and haven't cooked a thing. (The most sad part - Kevin is a chef!) But we have gone out to the Ethiopian restaurant a lot. Research!

Gamma! said...

We can't let the Campanaro's have all the fun - bring the cookbook so the Hall Christmas day celebration can enjoy the flavors of Ethiopia as well! :)

How about trying out an Ethiopian restaurant on Saturday night when you come to town? That would really get us in the spirit of things!

Baby Bean isn't even here yet and there are presents under the tree with "Baby Bean" on them! Wow! Baby Bean MUST be special and loved!