Dig In!

If you want to eat in Ethiopian restaurants, bring clean hands and a taste for spice. Ethiopian food is served on a large platter not unlike a pizza tray. A large, pizza-sized injera, or ethiopian bread pancake made from a grain called tef, is placed on the platter, then all of the different dishes are ladled into place on it. Vegetable dishes are usually placed on one side and meat dishes on the other. This aids is "fasting" observance -- observant orthodox Christian Ethiopians skip meat and animal products on Wedsdays and Fridays.

You'll notice a lot of red sauce on the plate. That's chili powder called berbere and it's a staple of the Ethiopian diet. I've not encountered anything too hot to handle, but some of the dishes certainly flirt with that line!

Ethiopian meals are eaten family style, with a twist: no utensils other than your digits and no plates; everyone eats off the same platter using pieces of injera bread.  Rip off a square, lay it on what you want, pick up by squeezing in on the four corners, then roll to make it bit-sized.

To deal with sanitation, it's custom and ritual for everyone coming to the table to wash their hands. Once you're there, however, all bets are off. Fingers get dirty and no one considers it rude. Just wash again after and you're good to go.