Comfort food was not meatloaf and mashed potatoes for Hiyaw
Gebreyohannes. He is Ethiopian, from a family that immigrated to Djibouti and
then Canada before settling in Michigan, and when he finally landed in New
York, he hankered for his mom’s home-style collard greens, split peas, lentils
and such. Not finding stores that sold them ready to eat, he has created a line
of fresh, organic and vegan prepared foods called Taste of Ethiopia, which he
makes at Hot Bread Kitchen, in La Marqueta in Harlem. They include tart,
slightly bitter collards, called gomen, with some jalapeño heat; a golden turmeric-infused
salad of cabbage and carrots, tekele gomen (shown above at right); split yellow
peas, or kik (at center), intensified with turmeric and the sweet heat of
ginger; and spicy red lentils, or misir (at left), at once mellow and rustic
with cumin and berbere, the Ethiopian spice blend. He also makes spongy injera
bread. Mr. Gebreyohannes is no novice when it comes to food: his mother owns
Ethiopian restaurants in Michigan and he was involved in an African-fusion
restaurant in Midtown.
Taste of Ethiopia prepared foods are sold in 10-ounce
refrigerated containers at Westerly Natural Market, 911 Eighth Avenue (55th
Street) for $6.49 each, and at Union Market stores in Brooklyn for $5.99 each.
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