My favorite underrated food is Ethiopian.
We have a nice little African restaurant that serves mean ethiopian food, but my favorite is still Ghenet on Mulberry in the city that doesn't sleep.
They got a shout-out in Sunday's magazine in "The Next Big Flavor":
"First, we phoned Marcus Samuelsson, 32, the globe-trotting co-owner and chef of the three-star Swedish restaurant Aquavit in New York. His reputation is built on a deft brand of fusion that emphasizes tasty results over high concept. His pick for the hot flavor of tomorrow? Berbere, the brick-red, sun-dried, chili-based spice blend that's been a staple of Ethiopian cuisine for more than 100 years. Berbere (pronounced bear-BEAR-eh) typically includes, in addition to red chilies similar to serranos, toasted ginger, cardamom, garlic, fenugreek and cinnamon.
''Berbere is transportable and adaptable,'' Samuelsson said. ''You can put it in any cuisine and it tastes good. You could make berbere-roasted chicken. You could rub it on whole red snapper. I could even make you sushi with berbere.'' As much as we wanted to accept his offer, we decided to put berbere to the sushi test in the brutally objective space of our own kitchen.
At the moment, you can't find berbere in supermarkets, or even in most gourmet specialty stores. Samuelsson had advised that freshly ground berbere is best purchased from an Ethiopian restaurant, so we phoned Ghenet, on Mulberry Street in Manhattan, and the next afternoon we were dipping slices of raw salmon into a dish of the powder we'd purchased ($10 per pound). The berbere smelled toasty, with the sinus-tickling foreboding of chili powder but the soothing scent of dried fruit and cinnamon. The silky dust adhered to the raw salmon like cocoa powder to a chocolate truffle. We braced ourselves for the fire, and tossed it back."
Full text:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/04/magazine/04TASTE.html
They are completely right about berbere, by the way. It's heaven on potatoes, lentils, in stew . . .
Even(I also love "sushi" (though I only eat sashimi), but hate pretentious assholes who act as if there is something cooler than thou about consuming it the "correct way"* -- it's food, don't get so uptight about it.)Odds
* This is not about TM. This is about "friends" who offer dissertations on technique at the freakin restaurant to all who will listen.
