I have visited an Ethiopian restaurant called Nile Restaurant. It is located on Havana and Jewel in Aurora, Colorado.

I went to this restaurant with my husband and son on Saturday October 27, 2012. We waited at the door to get seated. We saw that there was a table that was made out of straws. It had a cover for it and four low chairs around it. There were also normal tables and chairs in the restaurant. The restaurant had a lot of ethnic pictures. It had a lot of pictures that said thirteen months of sunshine. I wanted to know more about their calendar year. I have noticed that most of the customers were from Ethiopia. There were some customers from other countries but mostly were Ethiopian ethnic groups at the restaurant. After a minute of waiting, someone came out and asked us to seat ourselves. He seat down and waited for the waitress. The waitress gave us a menu and asked us what you would like to drink. The waitress didnt speak good English so it was hard to understand her. We tried to look at the menu to see the option for drinks. There was tea, coffee and two wine options on the menu. There was a confusing moment but finally we just asked for coke. We asked what she would recommend on the menu for us. She just stood there and said Pick what you like on the book. I looked at the menu and noticed there was one appetizer on the menu. The appetizer was sambusa which was familiar to me. There were no salads or dessert on the menu but it was included in the vegetable combination dish. We have asked for the cook. The waitress went back in to the kitchen and come back out after two minutes. She has informed us the cook was busy. I have asked if she could ask the cook or the owner what they suggest from the menu. She looked at me like I was crazy and went inside. After a while, another waitress came back out and asked us

if we were ready to order. When I asked the waitress what dish was cooked most in the restaurant, she has said the lamb thibets. I have ordered a lamb thibets and my husband ordered vegetables combinations. They called it veggie combo. We waited for about twenty minutes to get our order. While we waited for our order we went to the bathroom and washed our hands. When the order came, it was in one big round bowl with everything in it. The bowl had an injera on the bottom of it. The vegetables were on top of the injera in small groups. The lamb stew was on a side of the injera. More injera that was to be used as utensils for the dish was served. There were a lot of beriberi (mixture of spice used in Ethiopia) on the foods, even on the vegetables. Every dish was served with injera on the menu. There were small serving sizes on the vegetables combination. If it was one or two vegetables on the dish per person it would be adequate serving size. Most of the vegetables in that dish were legumes. For example lentils, split peas, dal (legume from India), etc. There was a side of salad included in the veggie dish. The texture of the dish was very sour and spicy. The injera was a lot soury tasting than the anjera we consume in our culture. It was so spongy like also. Every dish on the menu was served in the big bowl that was shared by everyone in the group. Flour thats called teff is used in the injera from Ethiopia. Teff doesnt have a lot of calories and it has a lot of dietary fibers. In Ethiopia, all meals include injera. Most vegetables dish in Ethiopia has a mixture of ground legumes called mitin shiro (1). Injera is a very popular dish in Ethiopia. The injera is made from spongy, fermented dough. It is cooked in a very large circular loaf on a griddle. Iron deficiency anemia is not known in this culture because of the consumption of teff and legumes in this culture. Teff is

popular in Ethiopia because of its ability to grown in harsh environment. Ethiopia is very hot and dry country. It is also able to withhold harsh environment. Injera is used as a non perishable food in Ethiopia. Another popular dish in Ethiopia is raw beef. The Christian orthodox of Ethiopia consumes raw beef but with a lot of beriberi. The Ethiopian people believe the beriberi in the beef will kill the microorganism that could harm a person (2). Most Muslim in Ethiopia cant consume raw or pork meats. Raw beef has became less popular because of its health concerns Women are responsible for preparing meals in Ethiopia (1). Like most African, men are responsible for providing for the family and women are responsible for planning and preparing meals in the home (3). Men work all day to provide for his family and expect food to be ready and serve to them by the women of the home. Men have nothing to do with planning and preparing of the meals. Just like women have nothing to do with working outside. I love to go to Cheesecake Factory a lot. At Cheesecake Factory there is a lot of choice for desserts on their menus but the restaurant I went to had no dessert choice on their menus. The Ethiopian restaurant I went to and Cheesecake Factory both had their menus written in English. The ethnic restaurant I went to had some tables and chairs that you would see in an American restaurant. Some drinks that were offered in the Ethiopian restaurant were drinks you would find in American restaurants. This restaurant still had some things from the cultures incorporated in the restaurant setting. I would go back to this restaurant in the future because I really like the food. It was a good experience tasting the food. The food wasnt expensive at all. Most of the

food that were served in the restaurant seemed healthy. There were not a lot of unhealthy foods served in the restaurant. The food that was offered I believe were more nutrient dense than other African regions. These foods have most carbohydrates, protein and vegetables. When I look closely to the foods that were offered in this restaurant, I have noticed a lot more vegetables than other African regions. I believe the unhealthiest were the drinks. They offered more Americanized drinks on their menus. I give this restaurant 8 out of 10 only because the waitress werent able to help the customers if they werent Ethiopian. The risk of malnutrition in Ethiopia is very high (4). This is due to the food that is consumed in this country. Food is not available to everyone in this country. The number of death due to malnutrition is a lot higher in this country then it is in the US. Food safety is a problem in Ethiopian. As we all know food safety is not an issue in the US. Clean water is not a concern in the US but in Ethiopia it is. Without clean water, people are at risk for developing diarrhea which in turn could make a person malnourish.

References 1. Pamela, Kittler et al. Food and Culture. 6th Ed. United States. Wadsworth Cengage Learning. 2012:193-214 2. Yewelsew, Abebe. et al. Phytate, zinc, iron and calcium content of selected raw and prepared foods consumed in rural Sidama, Southern Ethiopia, and implications for bioavailability. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. 20 (34) , May 2007;161-168 3. Tedla, Ellendi. Indigenous African education as a means for understanding the fullness of life: Amara traditional education. Journal of Black Studies. 1992. 4. Ethiopia - Emergency and Humanitarian Action. World Health Organization. Website http://www.who.int/hac/crises/eth/sitreps/6september2009/en/. Accessed 31 October 2012