Food from Ethiopian Diamond, a restaurant in Chicago
Food from Ethiopian Diamond, a restaurant in Chicago. Manuel Martinez / WBEZ
Food from Ethiopian Diamond, a restaurant in Chicago
Food from Ethiopian Diamond, a restaurant in Chicago. Manuel Martinez / WBEZ

A local restaurant owner shares the traditions of fasting and feasting for Ethiopian Orthodox Christmas.

Food from Ethiopian Diamond, a restaurant in Chicago
Food from Ethiopian Diamond, a restaurant in Chicago. Manuel Martinez / WBEZ
Food from Ethiopian Diamond, a restaurant in Chicago
Food from Ethiopian Diamond, a restaurant in Chicago. Manuel Martinez / WBEZ

A local restaurant owner shares the traditions of fasting and feasting for Ethiopian Orthodox Christmas.

Mary Dixon: The holiday season is over for most of us, but Orthodox Christians will be celebrating the Christmas this Saturday. Similar to Roman Catholic and Protestant celebrations, food is central to the holiday. A number of Chicago area restaurants are offering delightful dishes to showcase the Orthodox diaspora's cuisine. WBEZ's Cianna Greaves spent time with one Ethiopian restaurant owner who showed her some traditional dishes.

Cianna Greaves: It's a cold rainy morning as I make my way up North Broadway to Ethiopian Diamond restaurant in Edgewater. The warm dining room in this neighborhood establishment is a welcome oasis from the cold. I'm greeted by smiles from the staff and smells of spices and burning frankincense. Almaz Yigzaw is the owner of Ethiopian Diamond. She takes me to the kitchen to show me some of the most common dishes that are eaten during the Ethiopian Orthodox nativity fast. The kitchen is bustling with activity as a small team of cooks prepares large pots of soups and stews and braised greens. The first dish Yigzaw shows me is called Shimbra Asa, a thick stew made with chickpea dumplings. In English, Shimbra Asa means chickpea fish.

Almaz Yigzaw: This is an imitation like fish. People will get tired of other vegetarian dishes so they make an imitation for fish, but it's really chickpea.

Cianna Greaves: Members of the Ethiopian Orthodox faith, adhere to a vegan fast for 43 days leading up to the holiday, the fastest seen as a time of reflection atonement and renewal for body and soul. In a large braiser on the stove, thick quenelle-shaped dumplings simmer the Shimbra Asa as away happily in velvety liquid deep red in color.

Almaz Yigzaw: We make chili powder. It's spiced about 11 ingredients. All kinds of cumin, turmeric, ginger, garlic, all 11.

Cianna Greaves: The blended spices create a bouquet of floral scents and heat. Next, lentils are added to another large pot to make a dish called Yesimir Watt. Lentils are one of the most widely consumed foods during Christmas fasting period. They're easy to cook and so cup flavors, making them a versatile addition to the fasting menu. 

Almaz Yigzaw: The sauce is ready as you can see, it’s thickened.

Cianna Greaves: The Yesimir Watt is a dish special to Yigzaw.

Almaz Yigzaw: Fortunately, I grew up by my grandma. She raised me and I grew up watching this dish every single day. So when the restaurant was started, I say you know, I must do this.

Cianna Greaves: Cabbage and collard greens are also widely eaten during this period leading up to Christmas and on Christmas day, when the fasting is done...

Almaz Yigzaw: We have the chicken, lamb, beef tartare and homemade cheese. So those are the main dishes for the Christmas holiday.

Cianna Greaves: The vegan dishes, though simple and presentation are actually quite a complex in structure. And because so much effort has to go into cooking these dishes, Yigzaw says some of these culinary traditions are dying.

Almaz Yigzaw: Because it takes time and to prepare and do all this, not everybody could - only some houses but it's more traditional, like very back in ancient.

Cianna Greaves: But Yigzaw does her best to keep the traditions of Ethiopian festive cooking alive with consistency and quality, just as she’s done for the past 26 years. And as she will do on Saturday, Orthodox Christmas, for the public to feast on. Cianna Greaves, WBEZ News.


WBEZ transcripts are generated by an automatic speech recognition service. We do our best to edit for misspellings and typos, but mistakes do come through.