the Ethiopian fenugreek paste: seed soaked until its bitterness leaches away, ground with garlic, ginger, and berbere into a thick pale-gold purée eaten with injera, and thinned and sweetened as a tonic for the sick
Origin: The Ethiopian Highlands
From the journey of Fenugreek.
Abish is the Amharic name for fenugreek, and it names both the seed and the preparation made from it. Fenugreek reached the Horn of Africa across the narrow waters of the Red Sea from the Yemeni highlands, following the long traffic of trade, migration, and language that bound South Arabia and the Ethiopian plateau from the Sabaean period onward, and Ethiopia took to it more thoroughly than almost any other country in Africa. The seed is one of the essential spices of berbere, the deep-red chilli blend that colours and drives the whole national repertoire of stews; it goes into mekelesha, the finishing spice stirred into a wat at the last moment; it thickens and perfumes the chickpea-flour shiro and the lentil misir wat; and it is milled with barley and other grains into the flours of the highland kitchen. Eaten on its own account, abish is a thick, pale, faintly bitter paste. The seed is soaked for a day or more and its bitter water repeatedly poured off, then ground with garlic, ginger, and a little berbere into a purée that is served as a dish in its own right, scooped up with injera alongside the wats of a fasting or feasting table. Thinned with water, sweetened with honey, and drunk warm, the same preparation is one of the most trusted tonics in Ethiopian domestic medicine, pressed upon the sick, upon those recovering from fever, and above all upon nursing mothers to increase their milk, a use that reaches back through Arabia to the Egyptian papyri three and a half thousand years ago and is shared, unbroken, across the whole width of the Old World.
For the medicinal drink, omit the berbere, garlic, ginger, and fat entirely: thin the plain ground soaked seed with warm water, sweeten generously with honey, and drink warm. This is the form given to the sick and to nursing mothers across Ethiopia and Eritrea. The paste keeps for three or four days in the refrigerator and thickens as it stands; loosen it with a little water before serving. Fenugreek's sotolon passes into the sweat of anyone who eats a good deal of it, producing a faint smell of maple syrup, which is harmless. Niter kibbeh gives the authentic flavour, but a good vegetable oil makes the dish suitable for the Ethiopian Orthodox fasting table.
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