Breakfast is a more intimate meal than lunch or dinner, and a breakfast menu can be a strong sign of connection with an emigre population. This morning, my plate was crowded with beef stew fir fir, featuring large shreds of injera soaked in the spicy, chunky stew called sega wat; kinche, steamed cracked wheat; and kita fir fir (aka chechebsa), broken-up berbere-laced flatbread, also typically made from wheat. With the addition of scrambled egg and (out of frame) two small French rolls, it was an Ethiopian jumbo breakfast combo.
Another sign of connection, spotted, after a previous breakfast, among the take-ones by the door: the local Ethiopian yellow pages.
Habesha Market & Restaurant
1919 9th St. N.W. (T-U Sts.), Washington, D.C.
202-232-1919
www.HabeshaMarket.com
(From a visit in late winter)