Finding mind-blowing coffee in the most unusual places

If I had to pick one thing that makes Ethiopia one of the most unique traveling experiences, I would say it's all in the small Coffea arabica beans. I'm not one of those coffee crazed people who needs coffee to function but I do enjoy a fantastic cup of coffee every once in a while. The great thing about Ethiopia is that I found fabulous coffee everywhere. Instead of my usual three cups of tea a day habit, I started drinking coffee at least three times a day while visiting the former Abyssinia empire. Being completely surrounded by the wonderful frankincense, freshly roasted and freshly ground coffee smells made it impossible to refuse a cuppa. Cafes felt like magnets and we'd often find ourselves walking in and ordering macchiatos almost involuntarily. Even while we were trekking for a few weeks in the northern highlands of Ethiopia where there is absolutely no running water or electricity whatsoever, we found light, medium and dark roasts and still enjoyed coffee before and after almost every meal.

Good with our Sumatran breakfast but not the best coffee ever

I knew I wasn't going to drink good coffee either in Sri Lanka or in Maldives but I was genuinely excited about Sumatran coffee. I was actually quite disappointed with the coffee there and the best one I was able to find was an Illy roast served at a small cafe at Lake Toba. Everything else paled in comparison to Ethiopia's delightful coffee so I stuck to fresh coconut water instead.

Not the fanciest roasting equipment but it works!

I had not lost all hope on good coffee as I knew we'd spend all of September up in the Bay Area and I had heard very good things about new cafes that were doing exceptionally well. I decided to check them out and first went to Blue Bottle Coffee in Downtown San Francisco - the cafe is very hipster and they have all the chemistry experiments set up to brew what many people say is amazing coffee. Amazing in San Francisco comes with a price so Eliot and I ended up paying $9 for two iced coffees. I anxiously waited for my order and I grabbed the tall, skinny glass full of ice and coffee. I took my first sip and did not like it at all. Wait, what? My taste buds must have clearly been wrong. Everyone here seemed to love the coffee and even at 3pm, there was a line of at least 15 people going out the door and wrapping around one of the street corners. I took my second sip and I sighed. I sighed out of disappointment because my iced coffee just wasn't that good. For the price, it was actually bad. I have to admit I only had one of their drinks so I can't speak for the rest but I do not get what all the hype is about with Blue Bottle Coffee.

Later that week I decided to give San Francisco's hip and trendy coffee scene another shot. This time I went to Four Barrel Coffee in the mission and I decided to stay away from the iced coffee and just get their cup of coffee. For $2.50, I received a freshly brewed cup of coffee and didn't add any milk or sugar to it. Four Barrel Coffee roasts its own beans so I was hopeful that my coffee would be delightful. Again, pretty big disappointment with my first two sips. It wasn't the worst coffee I've ever had but it just wasn't spectacular - I left half of it behind and didn't even finish my cup. Four Barrel Coffee had a full house that day and it was 4pm. Everyone there seemed to love their drink except me.

Is exceptional coffee just that hard to find? Or is my particular and biased taste towards Ethiopian coffee ruining my coffee drinking experience now that I'm back in the US?

Colorado and amazing coffee, who would've guessed?

The answers seem to be maybe for the first one and thankfully no to the second question. Just was I mentally preparing for giving up on most cafe's, I happened to run into an amazing micro roaster and cafe in Leadville, Colorado out all places.

City on a Hill is one of the few cafes in this small mountain town. They pride themselves on roasting their own coffee and on serving great cappuccinos. I was a little skeptical based on my Bay Area experiences but decided to give it a go anyway. And my oh my was I glad I did! Finally! A fantastic cup of coffee! There was no bitterness whatsoever to my drink and it was neither too wet or too dry. Although the taste wasn't exactly like the coffee in Ethiopia, the quality was insanely high and I have a feeling it all had to do with the care City on a Hill takes when roasting their green coffee beans, just as Ethiopians care so much about taking 45 minutes aside to make a few cups of coffee from scratch. If you ever find yourself in the Leadville area, a trip to this coffee oasis will be worth the stop (hours and directions are here: http://www.cityonahillcoffee.com/about-us/).

Can non-export quality coffee beans still make good coffee just like they do in Ethiopia? Can you still get just "meh" coffee even if the beans are high, export quality?Is the secret to fabulous coffee in the roasting? I think it is, and I think I'm onto something...

Smell that heavenly goodness! 

Nile blues and mountain highs

The source of the Blue Nile

It was a bitch getting out of Addis Ababa. Because it was the week of [Coptic] Easter all the buses were booked in literally every direction.

"Want to take a bus to Bahir Dar? Not til next Thursday."
"How about Harar?"
"Sorry, booked til Friday."
"Do you have buses that go anywhere in the country for tomorrow?"
"No." [smile]

Travel infrastructure in Ethiopia is... limited. In a country of 80 million people, there are literally only TWO private bus companies. In spite of the high demand for private transportation, these companies refuse to buy more buses, hence our problems finding a way out of the city.

Anyway, we opted to take a cheap domestic flight on Ethiopian Airlines (the only domestic airline in the nation) to ensure we actually got to our destination. We were on a mission to explore the northern highlands.

We started out in Bahir Dar, perched on the banks of Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile. Bahir Dar was a laid back beach town and we really enjoyed the one night we stayed there. We took a boat out onto the lake and into the mouth of the Blue Nile, wondering at the prolific number of wetland bird species and water buffalo. We visited one of the ancient Coptic Christian churches that sit on the many islands scattered around the lake and we even had a dance battle, which we obviously lost, at a local wedding.

Blue Nile Falls

As we plied the waters out onto the lake we heard a scream from a passing boat. Our captain turned the boat around and we pulled up alongside. Turns out it was a happy scream! One of the passengers on the boat was a an absolutely wonderful woman we had met at a fruit juice place in Addis Ababa. She was in Bahir Dar for the weekend with her boyfriend and they insisted we join them that night for a traditional Ethiopian meal.

It turns out that the couple was actually staying in our very same guest house! They took us out to a local Ethiopian night club, beating back the tuk-tuk drivers who are always on the lookout to cheat foreigners on fares. The night club was a huge open space the size of a small warehouse. We arrived around seven and were a bit worried because it was nearly empty. We ordered food and waited. Before long, hundreds of people started to trickle in until the entire building was standing room only. As the food arrived, a troupe of music performers came up on stage and started belting out some traditional Ethiopian folk music. They were soon joined by a team of professional dancers. Ethiopian dancing is as unique as it is impressive. They move their shoulders in the way that salsa dancers move their hips. It's a sight to be seen and you can check it out here on Youtube.

The Simien Mountains

The next day we explored the Blue Nile Falls outside of Bahir Dar. It's a beautiful place and the water was impressive even in dry season. Then we piled onto a local minibus (a police officer was transporting a shackled prisoner on it too!) and made our way to Gondar, site of an ancient Ethiopian castle and jumping off point for our four-day trek in the Simien Mountains.

The mountains were absolutely fantastic. They were 110% different than the Himalayas. The Simiens are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and they look like a raised plateau that towers thousands of meters above the surrounding foothills. The sides of the plateau are sheer cliffs but the top is undulating hills. Our trek took us along the edge of the cliffs, circumnavigating the plateau. It felt like another world. We were always on the edge of a multi-thousand-meter drop and the views were mind-blowing. We spotted rare endemic species like Ethiopian wolves, ibexes, cliffspringers and tons of baboons.

Ibex vs. Baboon

The only downside of the Simiens are that they're quite expensive to visit and we feel that we got ripped off big time. You're required to hire a guide and a scout through a local operator in addition to all the camping equipment etc. The upshot is that they are well protected and that we got a truly luxury camping experience. Our tents were already set up for us when we arrived at the campsite and there was hot coffee/tea waiting for us. Not a bad way to experience the outdoors. We summited the third highest peak in Ethiopia and then moved on to our next trekking destination: Lalibela.

Lalibela is one of the most touristy places in Ethiopia. It's famous for its surfeit of ancient churches carved from solid rock. These feats of engineering rival Petra and are a big draw in a country with little tourism. The only problem is that the local priesthood who manages the churches charges criminally high entrance fees and pockets the cash, none of it goes to the community and there's a lot of local tension because of it (what would Jesus do, right?).

Shepherd kids hard at work

Anyway, we weren't interested in the churches, we were interested in the mountains. Lalibela lies in a deep valley and is surrounded by a semicircular mountain range. We had arranged to trek these mountains with a unique organization called Tesfa Tours. Tesfa means 'hope' in Amharic and the organization works with remote local villages in the mountains to host trekkers who want to traverse the terrain. It's a fantastic system that generates local employment, promotes positive interaction and provides an amazing experience at the same time.

We stayed in local-style cliff top huts, munched injera and sipped fresh roasted coffee at the end of every day of trekking. There was no running water and no electricity -- we were definitely in the middle of nowhere. The mountains are gorgeous, alternating between village farmland, rocky wilderness and wide open views of the entire Lalibela valley.

The Lalibela range

The experience was amazing but, after nine days of it, Eliot was sick and we were both completely exhausted (although Drea took an awesome local cooking class in town). We realized we had been burning the midnight oil a bit too fast in Ethiopia. We had planned back-to-back excursions across the Northern Highlands with no room for rest in between. And this was in a country with the worst transportation infrastructure we had encountered.

We had plans to visit the south and explore the Bale Mountains as well but we realized we needed to switch it up before we burnt out. Beware of the over-crowded itinerary in any long-term travel plans you may have. This was our mistake and we were determined to fix it. So we made a game-time decision to escape to Zanzibar for ten days...

Time to go exploring

co-posted on www.eliotpeper.com 

You say you like Ethiopian food? Wait 'til you read THIS!

Ahhh... Ethiopian food: injera topped with spicy, unique stews and dips served with a nice honey wine and topped off with a sweet, sweet, delicious bunna (coffee) at the end. For us foreigners, this is what we know as Ethiopian food. It's tasty. It's delicious. People love it.

Although "Ethio-pizza" does not qualify as one of the three hidden gems below, it was  still fun to eat!

But there is a whole 'nother side to Ethiopian food that I did not know existed until I visited Ethiopia. Ethiopian food has three "hidden gems," to which I had no previous exposure. The first time I encountered them... it was like love at first sight.

Behold, I unveil to you the three hidden food gems of Ethiopia!


#1. FRUIT SPRICE

Layered Goodness!!

Sprice (sounds more like "spreece") means "mixed" in Amharic, the national language in Ethiopia. Ethiopians make this delicious layered smoothie with fresh, ripe fruit and serve it with lime on the side. You can drink it using a straw or spoon it all up to make the pleasure last longer. A good Sprice is thick and full of flavor, never watered down.

The layers usually consist of: creamy avocado smoothie in the bottom, followed by a middle layer of thick guava juice, topped by naturally sweet and thick mango juice plus a final thinner layer of papaya or banana smoothie.

This flavor rainbow is brought out in a huge mug and sometimes topped with vinto, a super sweet sugary sauce that we always opted out of.

The best part of Sprice? It's a great way to start the day plus you get at least 3 servings of fruit.

We usually found Sprice in most fruit shops, especially in bigger cities like Addis Ababa, Gondar, Lallibella and Bahir Dar. Unbeknownst to us, most fruit shops have a small 'restaurant' inside where the secret Sprice as well as gem #2 are served...

#2. SALAD "ATAKELT"

The strangest, best salad ever: Atakelt

Oh yes, we found legit salad in Ethiopia! After having Sprice for the first time, we indulged in an enormous plate of fresh and amazing Atakelt, a unique and incredibly filling salad.

I would have never, in a thousand years, thought to put all the ingredients in an Atakelt together and serve it as a salad. Good thing someone else did because this thing is amazing!

Atakelt salad consists of a bed of lettuce topped with an entire, sliced avocado, an entire sliced up, boiled, peeled potato, chunks of ripe, sweet tomato, sprinkles of red onion, carrot and green hot peppers PLUS sliced bananas! Atakelt is dressed with vinegar (OMG had not had vinegar in months!!!), a bit of salt and, if you want, a dangerously spicy and tasty powder that tasted like a mix of ground pepper and chili.

I know it may not sound good but this strange concoction is one of the best salads I've ever had! We often had a giant Sprice followed by a giant Atakelt (it's so large we had to share one!) for lunch and were incredibly satisfied and full of healthy energy. I'm definitely adding Sprice and Atakelt to my diet back in California! Can't wait to make it, especially during Hass Avo season.

#3. REAL AUTHENTIC ITALIAN FOOD. I REPEAT, REAL AUTHENTIC ITALIAN FOOD, JUST LIKE IN ITALY.

Delicious italian appetizers @ Castellis in Piazza, Addis Ababa

A long, long time ago (2004), I lived in Italy for a little while. One of the saddest things about leaving was knowing that unless I went back to Italy, I would never, ever again have the opportunity to indulge in one of the world's best cuisines. Italian food elsewhere is not the real deal. In order to have the good stuff, one must go to Italy.

Or Ethiopia.

Several decades ago, Italy decided to try to invade Ethiopia and failed. Twice. Ethiopia's army kicked Italian butt and protected Ethiopia from becoming yet another European colony. Ethiopians are very proud of this part of their history and although the Italians were swiftly kicked out, they left a bit of culinary legacy behind. Many of the macchiatos and espressos found throughout the country's cafes are, of course, made in Italian espresso machines. Many Ethiopians even adapted spaghetti as part of their diet.

But one of the best parts of this culinary legacy is a restaurant in the heart of Addis Ababa called Castellis.

Italian food: oh how I've missed the REAL you!

One random night in Addis, we saw a sign for an "Italian" restaurant. There's only so much injera we could eat so we decided to give it a shot and boy am I glad we did! Apparently we lucked out because we needed a reservation but managed to sneak in the second they opened their doors at 7pm. Dining at Castellis was like being zapped back to Italy. Eliot had never ever had real authentic Italian food and was completely enamored by it. I couldn't believe the authenticity of the food here- even our Ethiopian waiter spoke Italian. A fellow Italian diner commented on my "good pronunciation" (wohoo!) when I ordered the fettuccine al nero di seppia con calamari and he vouched for Castellis by saying it was indeed like a little part of Italy and that the food here was absolutely excellent.

That night we indulged in the insalata di casa plus some home made cheese, sun dried tomatoes and grilled veggies as appetizers. Sadly, they were out of the fettuccine so we ordered the lasagna and some porcini mushroom raviolini as our primi piatti - to top it all off, all of the pasta was home made and they use real e.v.o.o (extravirginoliveoil)!  

Raviolini with porcini mushrooms: yes please, I'll have one of those!

Well, there they are! I have to admit when we decided to go to Ethiopia for the "food", I never thought I'd find these three gems there. Thank you, Ethiopia for a healthy and unexpected dose of FRUIT, SALAD and ITALIAN FOOD!

"What the #^@% are you going to do in Ethiopia?"

Who doesn't love the smell of roasting coffee? When you order coffee in Ethiopia, the green beans are roasted in front of you before being hand-ground and prepared. Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee and their coffee remains the best in the world. When you smell roasting coffee, butchered meat and grilled mutton you know you're in the country's capital: Addis Ababa.

We arrived exhausted after a long layover in Dubai on our way from Kathmandu. Luckily enough, an Ethiopian friend of ours in San Diego had hooked us up with a home-stay in the capital so when we stepped out of the airport one of the family members was there to pick us up. The weather was cool and rainy. Contrary to popular perception, Ethiopia is a wet mountainous country. The climate is somewhat similar to Northern California or Oregon (the drought you may have read about in the news was mostly restricted to the remote region immediately adjacent to Somalia).

Roaring like an Abyssinian lion!

We soon discovered that we had arrived the day before Ethiopian Easter. Ethiopia has been a Coptic Christian country for millennia and their calendar is different from the Western one (Easter is in May rather than April). Not only that, their time is different as well. The clock starts at 6AM Western time so 10AM Western time is 4AM Ethiopian time. This was a never-ending hurdle for us because sometimes it was hard to know which time people were quoting us!

After unpacking in the family home we were staying in we explored a local open market and met three wonderful Ethiopians who became some of our dearest friends on the trip. The next morning at our home-stay mother served us a literal Easter feast. Five courses of fantastic local food washed down with a dark home brewed beer called tela. The feast continued for the rest of the day at the home of our newfound friends.

Spreece, taking Jamba Juice to the next level

We spent almost a week exploring the capital. The main university has a gorgeous campus and a museum that illustrates much of Ethiopia's roller coaster political history. Ethiopia sports the most beautiful women on Earth and the men aren't bad looking either, it made for great people watching. In addition to the local staple, injera, we discovered a number of culinary gems including spreece, a multi-fruit smoothie where each fruit juice gets it's own separate layer in the glass (delicious!). The city is in a state of constant construction. Ethiopia has the fastest growing economy in sub-Saharan Africa and Chinese contractors are everywhere building infrastructure (usually paid for by the Ethiopian government with aid money from the European Union, weird). We zipped around on jam-packed local minibuses and randomly discovered the mind-blowing Italian restaurant Castelli's which is apparently a favorite of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie (best Italian food outside of Italy).  

Apparently we weren't the only ones to make friends here

The people of Ethiopia made the strongest impression on us of any country we've visited. On the one hand there are touts that are constantly pursuing you for money. We can't count the number of people who were trying to constantly sell us stuff or cheat us with a ridiculous 'foreigner' price. This was truly exhausting to deal with and jaded us very quickly. On the other hand Ethiopians were the most authentically open, generous and welcoming people we've encountered anywhere. Not only would they invite us into their homes and treat us to every luxury with enthusiasm, they were really genuine. We've visited countries with friendly people before. This was different. Ethiopians actually wanted to become you friends, not just be friendly. In so many other countries there's a social barrier that just can't be crossed. In Ethiopia, we wound up with friends for life.

Sunset rush hour

Co-posted on www.eliotpeper.com

The World's Healthiest "Carb"? A Close Look at Injera, the national food of Ethiopia.

"Injera for breakfast, injera for lunch, injera for dinner. All the time, injera. Always." -- Our Ethiopian home stay host's description of his diet. 

Locals enjoying injera and doro wot

Lentils, potatoes, beets and injera for lunch

How to describe injera? it's a spongey, crepe-like pancake that tasks like sourdough and is served in rolls and almost as a serving platter. Different kinds of stews/curries are then served on top of the injera. Except for chicken (which is usually served on the bone), most of these stews/curries are all bite sized and are scooped up with a piece of injera. Everything is eaten with your hand, there are no utensils. 

Teff

Injera is made from a very unique grain called teff. Teff originates from Ethiopia and most Ethiopians with whom I spoke said teff only grows in Ethiopia. According to some locals, teff is also extremely healthy and has a high iron content (being prone to anemia, I ate a lot more injera after discovering this useful fact).

Based on basic research, teff is indeed a very healthy grain and as a huge plus, it is gluten-free. It also has plenty of Lysine, an essential amino acid that increases calcium absorption and helps lower bad cholesterol levels. Its fiber, calcium, potassium and protein contents are excellent. Apparently, one cup of cooked teff has 40% of the recommended daily intake of calcium!

This tiny little grain is ground into a flour which is then used to make injera.  

Making injera

Making injera is easy!

I was so curious about Ethiopian cuisine so, I just had to take a cooking class. Injera was by far the easiest thing to make. First, you need the batter. The batter is simply water, yeast and teff flour mixed together and left to sit for three days (which is probably what gives injera its sourdough taste). Once the batter is done, lightly grease the largest pan you have, heat it up and then pour some of the batter so it covers the entire surface of the pan on a medium-high heat. The batter will immediately bubble, giving the injera its spongey texture. Cook the injera, covered, for two minutes. Only one side is cooked, so once the two minutes are up, it's done. Peel it off the pan and it's ready to eat. Ethiopians have humongous and specialized injera makers, but for the non-Ethiopian, this 'pan method' works just fine. 

Injera 24/7

Ethiopians are devout fans of injera and they will eat it every day. Similar to Dal Bhat in Nepal, this is a staple food throughout the country and even when teff is not available, people will make injera with other grains such as wheat or barley.

For example, our typical Ethiopian diet consisted of injera in the morning with tibbs (small pieces of meet in a spicy garlic stew) and plain egg omelets. Coffee beans would be roasting as we ate and we would wash down breakfast with a nice simi (cup) of fresh, delicious, border-line orgasmic home-made Ethiopian bunna (coffee). If it wasn't a wednesday or a friday, lunch would consist of injera once again with either more tibbs or meat wot, which is a special dish made with bean flour. Again, we'd wash down our lunch with another freshdeliciousborderlineorgasmichomemadeEthiopian bunna! And what's for dinner? You guessed it! Injera of course with some more stews. This time, however, we'd wash down dinner with a nice glass full of dtala or tejj -- Ethiopian home-made beer or honey wine. 

Country-style injera

As far as carbs go, injera does seem to be a very healthy alternative - especially when it is made with teff flour. But, could I mirror our host's diet?

Although injera is very tasty, healthy and goes well with everything, it was hard to eat it every single day. As a foodie, I really appreciate diversity in food. Unlike our host (and my friends in Nepal with their Dal Bhat obsession), I could not eat the same thing every day, three times a day for the rest of my life. The good thing is, I didn't have to. Ethiopia had three other amazing culinary gems to offer, and it was like a 'love at first sight' experience... 

The Ethiopian Coffee Craze

Ethiopian coffee - the best of the best. Period. 

Macchiato heavenly goodness

There. I said it. Yes, I'm Colombian and our coffee is fantastic and clearly (probably biasedly!) the best in the world. Or so I thought. After experiencing Ethiopia, I have to say that Ethiopian coffee is by far the best coffee I have ever had anywhere, ever. I'm just being honest here: nothing else that I have ever had comes close, and I think the secret to this wonderful taste and experience in the roasting. 

Traditional Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony

The Coffee Ceremony 

Sipping on home-roasted Ethiopian bunna (coffee) is much more than just a pleasant experience, it's beyond mind blowing! Just like injera, Ethiopians take their bunna very seriously. Coffee is typically drunk between three and four times a day and almost every single time before consumption, a coffee ceremony precedes. 

The raw, whole beans (which are likely not export quality) are roasted on a small pan over a fire. Darker roasts are roasted longer and lighter roasts don't get as much of the heat. The medium to darker roasts were the most common. After the roasting the beans, the roaster brings the pan to the drinkers so they can smell the freshly roasted beans. Then, the beans are ground by hand using a special mortar and pestel. The grounds are then added to hot water and frankincense is lit to create a nice atmosphere. After a few minutes, small coffee cups (simi) are rinsed and then the coffee is served. Usually, Ethiopians add quite a bit of sugar to their coffee but I always asked for mine black and proceeded to have at least three (and often more) servings. 

Frankincense

Macchiato vs. Cappuccino

Coffee ceremony coffee is usually black, with the option to add sugar, and milk is not an option. However, every restaurant and cafe offers espresso-type drinks with milk. The Ethiopian macchiato is the closest version to a 'western' cappuccino and it kicks 'western' cappuccino ass. The Ethiopian version of a cappuccino is its own thing and is basically just hot milk with a little bit of chocolate and a drizzle of coffee. Cappuccinos are not their best drink, macchiatos are definitely king. Ethiopian macchiato comes with a bit of steamed milk on top and, for about $0.40 USD per serving, is dangerously addictive. We'd usually have at least two macchiatos every time we sat down at a cafe… I mean, why not? I'm not generally a coffee drinker at all -- I'm a much bigger fan of tea -- but in Ethiopia, I completely reversed that and had coffee almost every single day 

Size matters

Sipping on coffee in the middle of nowhere

One of the nice things about coffee in Ethiopia is the serving size. Unlike crazy vent or 24 ounce sizes, bunna cups are very small and probably only hold about three ounces of coffee. Some of the macchiato cups can be a little bigger but probably wouldn't hold more than five ounces. Having more than one "cup" is therefore almost the norm. 

Origins

Legend has it that an Ethiopian farmer Kaldi discovered coffee. Many, many years ago, whenever the farmer's goats ate small red 'fruits' from a particular bush, they would be energized. The farmer noticed this only happened with the red 'fruit' so he decided to try it for himself and got the same reaction. Coffee was thus born but it wasn't until the Arabs began to trade it that coffee got really popular. Back in the day, Ethiopia was a much bigger country, known as Abyssinia and its territory included today's Eritrea, Djibouti, and parts of Somalia, Egypt, Sudan, Yemen and even Saudi Arabia. Coffee beans eventually made their way across the Red Sea to Yemen, hence the term arabica when it comes to some coffee beans. Today, Kaldi's is the Starbucks of Ethiopia, with stores all over the capital, Addis Ababa. 

Such a delicious aroma!

One of the most memorable things about Ethiopia is seeing every little cafe always full of people, no matter what time of day. The cafe culture is very strong in Ethiopia, especially in the big cities like Gondar and Addis Ababa. The other memorable experience was the fact that almost no matter where you go, whether you're on a bus or walking around, the scent of freshly roasted coffee beans follows you around. The unfortunate consequence is that I now feel very spoiled and will probably stick to tea to avoid disappointment... until Sumatra in late July!

Foodventuring: How our 7-month trip came to be

Food + adventure = Foodventure

Part 3. How we ended up pulling the trigger on our 7-month trip to Nepal, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and others

 

All you really have to do is save some money, organize your finances, leave your job, invest in gear, organize your finances and just go!

Going on a long-term trip as a couple sounded a lot harder than it was. Eliot and I had always wanted to do a long trip and we thought we would do it after we got married. The idea was something like a 6-month honey moon full of adventure (trekking, diving, rafting, etc) in exotic places. We gave ourselves about 3 years to plan for it and figured we'd go sometime around late 2014. Around the fall of 2012, we started thinking about possibly accelerating that timeline to the beginning of 2013: Eliot's job was slowing down and I had just been notified that my company wasn't going to give raises to anyone that year. By the end of 2012 we had pretty much committed ourselves to making this trip happen, and by February, it was all a done deal. I will go into much more detail about finances, packing, plane tickets and other trip logistics in future posts, but for now, this is the detailed story about or food and adventure-themed journey.

Why?
We love to travel and we love exploring the world so, why not? We never really let ourselves get comfortable in any situation and travel is a great way to accomplish that. We are also not resortists or fans of very touristy destinations so we usually end up going places and doing things that most people would never even consider. We are flexible, adaptable and extremely adventurous with our physical activities and of course with food (I think I'm even more adventurous than Eliot, I would actually eat tarantulas if they were served to me but Eliot said he'd refuse!). Traveling allows us to push our sense of adventure to new and undiscovered levels so we need a healthy dose of it every once in a while.

A very fine Tamal establishment in Angeles Valley, Honduras. Most good food places don't have to look like a restaurant!

Nepal, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka and Sumatra, how come?
The road less traveled is usually the most attractive to us. Barring Nepal, our destinations are not exactly 'popular' and you won't hear too many people talking about how their dream has always been to travel to Addis Ababa or Colombo. This is how we prefer to travel. We picked four countries over a 6 month period so that we have the opportunity to really get to know the local culture.

We also wanted to go to places that were very budget friendly, had ample opportunities for outdoor adventure and, of course, offered delicious food! All four countries are very affordable and, once you get there, the cost of living is extremely affordable: 2 people can easily eat a very filling lunch with a drink included for less than $2USD TOTAL.

Nepal. We were least excited about Nepal from a foodie point of view but we heard from several friends that the momos (steamed or fried dumplings), chiya (masala-style tea), daal bhat (traditional lentil dish) and even fresh fruit juices were really good there. We also heard that Thamel, the backpacker/trekker place in Kathmandu had a some of the best food in the city. Still, we don't have a lot of Nepali food in California so we were very excited about trying our Himalayan cuisine.

Steamed Vegetarian Nepali Momos - Spicy, Healthy and Delicious!

Ethiopia! The absolute highlight of our culinary expedition will definitely be Ethiopia. Ethiopian food is amazing and we cannot wait to eat it all the time during the 6 weeks that we're there. Ethiopian food, just like its history and culture, is very unique and I have never had anything else quite like it. Ethiopians are very proud of their food and for good reason! The Injera, a spongy, pancake-like sour bread absorbs so much of the flavor of the various curry-esque servings. I am a big fan of the cardamom-spiced curries and they definitely know how to do lentils right. We are also very excited to see some of the coffee ceremonies and will pretty much be caffeinated night and day as Ethiopia is the birthplace of this wonderful bean.

A Coffee Farm in Nicaragua, where coffee is also grown

Sri Lanka. Tea and Curries. I actually don't think I've ever had Sri Lankan food but I imagine that sipping on tea and eating curries is basically what we'll be doing on the tear-drop island. Ceylon tea originates from Sri Lanka and we hope to visit a tea plantation while we're there. I hear the seafood is also very good and if it is at all similar to South Indian seafood, then I think we're in for a treat.

Sumatra. We've both been to Indonesia before but only to a handful of its thousands of islands. Honestly, we picked Sumatra because of the relaxed vibe, the opportunities for diving and trekking in jungles with orangutans. We were not sure about the kind of food there but as soon as we heard about Padang, we got really excited! For us, the spicier the food, the better and Padang is supposed to have the spiciest food in all of Indonesia. Padang food has been highly recommended to us, especially by friends who frequent Indonesia.

I plan on keeping a detailed visual memory of almost everything I eat and will upload posts full of pictures when I can have internet access. Most of the activities we want to do are in very remote areas so I won't always be connected, which is part of the point anyway! For example, our 35-day trek in Nepal includes very remote areas such as Upper Mustang and we'll also be rafting down the world-famous Karnali river for 10 days.