Wednesday, April 7

The Path to Niter Kibbeh Starts With Herbs and Spices

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In a tiny strip mall, at one of the only Ethiopian restaurants in Alabama—that’s where my journey to making real niter kibbeh started. There, I met Gini Mohammed, one of the owners of The Red Sea Restaurant. We’d never met before, but Mohammed and I had an immediate rapport. We bonded a bit, talking about our children and what brought each of us to Alabama. Then we got down to business talking about the nuts and bolts of spiced butter.

Niter kibbeh is a true backbone of Ethiopian cuisine, used to add sublime flavor at the start of cooking, or employed as a finishing element for an even bolder statement.

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