Lights out

I am writing this in the dark. The power has gone out, the only light is from my laptop screen and the battery is running low...I better write quickly.

The power actually goes out quite frequently, sometimes multiple times in a day: sometimes they last a few minutes and other times a few hours. It has become routine to fetch a candle or flashlight and to prepare dinner in the dark, luckily we have a kerosene stove. Walking at night is tricky but when the streetlights are out it can be treacherous: the sidewalks are in bad condition; there are open sewers; puddles of raw sewage, missing manhole covers, etc.  Luckily however, the Nokia cell phones in the country come with a flashlight! I use it on daily basis.

Businesses are one of the groups that are hit the hardest by these blackouts as they must invest in generators and diesel or risk losing business. These power interruptions have probably cost the Ethiopian economy millions of dollars in lost productivity – case in point: every time the power goes out my coworkers lose their work on their desktop PCs. The generator quickly comes back on but they need to restart whatever they were working on – I helped them by putting their ‘Auto save’ function to 1- minute.

I have discovered that these are not just random events, but rather unannounced rolling blackouts that have become regular routine by the Ethipoian Power Agency as they balance the fine line between power production and consumption. Back in 2009 they brought in mandatory, planned blackouts across the City and many residents fear that the same thing is coming again: recently factories have been given orders to cease activities during peak energy periods (4pm-6pm). At least when it is planned you are able to adjust your schedule accordingly.

The surprisingly thing about these blackouts is that there is supposedly ample energy produced in the country, in fact they are supposed to begin exporting electrons to Sudan this month. All the energy produced in the country is from Hydroelectric dams which when operating at peak capacity should leave the lights humming year round, unfortunately there have been major issues with them.  The newest and largest of the facilities is not operational, while the others are operating at a fraction of their capacity.

Irrespective of this, the Achilles heel of the electric system is their aging transmission grid - a similar problem being faced by jurisdictions around the world. It doesn’t matter how much power is produced if the transmission lines aren’t able to handle the load, sort of like hooking a garden hose to a fire hydrant. These aging lines are inefficient; shedding as much as 40% of their electrons en-route to homes and businesses. There are projects underway to upgrade the grid but such projects are notoriously expensive and time consuming to construct.

It doesn’t look like there will be any immediate remedies to power outages that plague Addis Ababa, but on the bright side they celebrate ‘Earth Hour’ everyday. If you are planning a visit in the near future bring a flashlight and plenty of batteries.

Raw meat?

Jason in Canada asked ‘Is it true they eat raw meat? Is the food different from what you get back home”?

Yes Jason, it is true that eating raw meat is delicacy in Ethiopia and it is common to see people eating slices of beef right in the butcher shop. Referred to as Kitfo, meat is usually marinated in butter and berbere (a local spice mixture containing chilli pepper), warmed slightly but served raw with injera. In the past raw meat was heavily seasoned for preservation on long expeditions throughout the country, but rarely done so now. Aside from kitfo, the Ethiopian cuisine is quite diverse and full of many flavours and textures. 

As previously mentioned, injera is a staple of the Ethiopia diet: it is served on a two-foot diameter plate a variety of stews (wot) are served on top and guests use the injera to scoop sauces, vegetables and wot of their choice. The wot is cooked with a variety of meats, including chicken (ye beg wot), mutton (ye beg wot), and beef (ye bere sega). Fried meat (tibs) is commonly served on the side as well as other dishes including, cottage cheese and other vegetables.

The majority of the population is of the Orthodox religion and as such they fast on Wednesday and Fridays. Most of the population will also practice longer fasts during lent (56 days), Advent (40 days), and Kweskwam (40 days). In fact, fasting can occur for up to 250 days a year – though the concept of fasting simply implies abstaining from meat and dairy products (as opposed to Muslims during Ramadan who abstain from food and drink during daylight hours). During these fasts, lentil stew (misr wot) and chickpea stew (shiro wot) as well as fish dishes are mainstays of the Ethiopian Orthodox diet. Of course when the fasts are broken there is a large consumption of meat, a return to a carnivorous diet. 

Aside from the Ethiopian cuisine which is found in restaurants throughout the city, the food options are actually quite varied to fit nearly any mood. Pizza and pasta are very popular and there are many Italian restaurants scattered throughout, a throwback to the brief Italian occupation in the 1940’s. (The pizza is served with this delicious green paste that is made from olive oil and jalapenos, I could put it on everything)  There are many hamburger shacks and it is a common item on many restaurants, however, you need to be careful that it is fully cooked as they like their meat quite rare. Roast chicken is Almost every restaurant offers hamburgers and French fries are served with almost any meal. Roast chicken is a very popular meal, as is tuna salad. There are a number of middle eastern restaurants as well as a handful of Indian and Chinese establishments as well.

On most streets there are small fruit and vegetable stands selling a variety of local produce including: bananas, oranges, grapefruits, pineapple, cpassion fruit, mango, pumpkin, papaya, avocado, green beans, cabbage, carrots, jalapeños(which is called green pepper), red peppers, eggplant, apples (which are imported and very expensive) and chickpeas still on the bush. 

There are also many butchers, bakeries, cafes, samosa and French fry vendors scattered throughout the city. There are many supermarkets that offer a variety of ‘western foods’ but they are much more expensive than what is found locally, of course you can find many conveniences that you would not expect: up to and including an entire frozen salmon and real bacon! (Pork is not allowed for consumption by Orthodox Ethiopians). 

Of course, all of these observations are based on my experiences in Addis Ababa, a very urban city in a country which is otherwise decidedly rural. Ethiopia is very mountainous and the different regions around the country have unique climate and altitudes, the crops grown and thus the diets are quite varied.

I forgot to mention the water – I have yet to drink the tap water, I have repeatedly been warned against it until my immune system has adjusted to the environment. I was made aware of this before I left and I didn’t want to drink bottled water for six months so I went to Mountain Equipment Co-op and bought a chemical purification solution made by Pristine – a Canadian company. It has very useful, I would high recommend it.*

Bon appetite or as they say in Ethiopia ‘good appetite’

The fruit stand guy

The butcher

*If anyone from Pristine or Mountain Equipment Co-op reads this: I am available for endorsement or sponsorship opportunities.

River Pollution

Addis Ababa is a city of rivers, there are many tributaries of the Akaki River that run through the City before feeding into the Awash river and so forth into the lakes of the Rift Valley. The rivers have truly been a blessing for the residents, in fact it was the clean waters and natural hot springs that initially brought attention to the area and before it ultimately became the Capital of the country. Residents used the water for drinking, washing, agricultural purposes and for recreation, but things have since changed.

The hot springs have dried up and the once pristine rivers are now filled with plastic bags and other garbage, the brownish tinge more reminiscent of an open sewer system than a waterway: a fact not lost on those who openly urinate off bridges into the river below. The change has been gradual but cannot be ignored, the main sources of contamination are:

Industrial wastewater
Addis is home to more than 2,000 industries, (including pulp-paper, food, chemical, textile, tanneries, metal works, and mining) the majority of which are located on the banks of rivers and discharge these effluents directly.  According to the Addis Ababa Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) as much as 90% of these industries do not have any kind of treatment plant and discharge their solid, liquid and gaseous wastes untreated into the environment.

Municipal wastewater
More than 24% of households are not connected to the sanitation system, meaning instead of traveling by sewer to a treatment plant it flows through a series of roadside open ditches before emptying directly into the closest river. The city is growing at a rate far in excess to which it can provide services and the number of un-serviced households is ever increasing.

Agriculture
There are many urban agriculture projects within the city, especially along the river banks and these practices are releasing pesticides, fertilizer and livestock manure into the waterways. These run-off nutrients are a major cause of eutrophication of the rivers and lakes downstream, a process by which oxygen is removed from the waterway slowly dies.

In light of these facts, it should come as no surprise that the rivers in Addis are classified to be “badly polluted to very badly polluted” by the Slovak Technical Standard and the World Health Organization (WHO). Tests have shown that levels of cadmium, chromium, cobalt, lead and E.coli are all at levels far beyond allowable levels for human consumption.  Fortunately, the majority of the City’s drinking water comes from underground wells and unspoiled aquifer, but local farmers are still using the river water to irrigate crops. 

According to the Addis Ababa Urban Agricultural Office, 60% of the vegetables sold in the city have been irrigated with river water. Furthermore, an EPA study in 1998 showed very high levels of cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel and zinc in potatoes grown on these farms. Examples in China have shown a direct correlation between the use of wastewater for irrigation and an increase in liver cancer as pollutants enter the food chain.

I guess that will give me something to think about the next time I am buying groceries...

Municipal waste outlet into the river

A too common scene

How do you make injera bread?

My cousin Angela asked: "How do they make that wonderful, stretchy, sour-dough-tasting injera bread?"


For those who aren't aware, Injera is a traditional flatbread that is used to scoop up meat and vegetable stews. Traditionally, injera is used to line a large tray on which the stews are served: tiny bits of injera are torn and used to scoop up bits of stew and eaten - only with your right hand of course. In essence, injera is a food, napkin and tablecloth all in one.

Injera is made from tef (Eragrostis tef), a small grain that grows in the highlands of Ethiopia. Tef is quite nutritious, being high in fiber, iron, a good source of protein as well as calcium and contains almost no gluten. In areas where tef is not readily available, it can be partially substituted for wheat, barley, corn or even rice.


Now, onto the process...the tef is mixed with water and allowed to ferment for several days, this gives it a mildly sour taste - similar to starting a sourdough bread. That is pretty much it, it is read to bake into large flat loaves, traditionally on a clay plate over a burning fire but the modern method utilizes a specialize electric injera baker. As 


 Now, assuming you don't want to have an injera baker imported, here is a more western approach...


You need:

• 1 cup tef flour
• 1 cup water
• pinch of salt
• vegetable oil

Instructions

• In a mixing bowl, slowly add water to the tef and stir to avoid lumps
• Add the salt
• Heat a non-stick pan (or oiled cast-iron skillet), coat with a thin layer of butter if you prefer.
• Pour the batter into the pan much like a pancake, though the injera should be thinner than a pancake and thicker than a crepe
• Cook until bubbles appear on the top of the injera and remove to cool

It may take some practice, but there is a quick and easy injera recipe!

Bon appetite cuz!

My first Ethiopian meal!

What is the beer like?

Adam from Canada asked: "What is your local beer of choice? How does it compare to the beer in Canada?"


Thanks for the question Adam - The beer in Ethiopia is quite tasty and priced to keep you coming back for more (less than $1CDN/bottle). They have very strict rules about bringing the beer bottles back, the deposit on each bottle is as much as the beer itself! Here are my top three Ethiopian beer choices...

1. St. George Beer - This lager is brewed in downtown Addis Ababa and comes from the country's oldest brewery, having been founded in 1922. There are St. George bars all over the city making it difficult to avoid this delicious brew.
2. Meta Beer - Another local beer, I found the brewery by accident and stumbled upon a beer tent and had a wonderful Sunday afternoon...but I digress. Meta is quite tasty with a slight hoppy taste, it follows the German Rheinheitsgebot Purity Law of 1516 (meaning the only ingredients are water, hops, malt and yeast).
3. Dashen Bira - Brewed in Gondar (Western Ethiopia) this lager is a little musky and probably has a different fermentation process. It tastes much better from the keg than it does from  the bottle!

Overall, I must say that I am quite pleased with the beers I have tasted here and look forward to trying a few more in the future - but I look forward to coming home and clinking a few Steamwhistle pints!

1. 

What is Khat?

Igor in Macedonia asked: "What is Khat anyway?"

Khat (pronounced chat) is a flowering plant that is native to tropical East Africa, it is Ethiopia's second largest agricultural export (behind coffee) and is illegal in most other parts of the world.

When the leaves of the young khat plant are chewed an amphetamine-like stimulant is released: putting the chewer to a state of excitement, euphoria and causing a loss of appetite. University students will routinely chew khat as a means of staying awake in preparation for exams and major assignments. 

Khat can become addictive and may lead to health problems after extensive use, frequent chewers may experience withdrawal and become tired after a few days without it.