Does anyone speak any Ethiopian language?
In Ethiopian cuisine there seems to be 2 dishes
called "kitfo". One is a version of steak tartare,
called just "kitfo" as far as I know. The other
is gomen kitfo or yegomen kitfo. This is a dish
of collard greens and cottage cheese. The gomen
refers to the collard greens. I used to assume that
kitfo referred to the cottage cheese. But then I
found out about the raw meat kitfo so now I wonder
how they came to have the same name. Does anyone
know exactly what "kitfo" means in whatever Ethiopian
language it is from? (I'm guessing it's probably
Amharic - the language, that is.) Anyone here from
Ethiopia??

Kate

--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?

On Tue, 20 Jul 2004 13:49:32 -0400, Kate Connally >
wrote:

>Does anyone speak any Ethiopian language?
>In Ethiopian cuisine there seems to be 2 dishes
>called "kitfo". One is a version of steak tartare,
>called just "kitfo" as far as I know. The other
>is gomen kitfo or yegomen kitfo. This is a dish
>of collard greens and cottage cheese. The gomen
>refers to the collard greens. I used to assume that
>kitfo referred to the cottage cheese. But then I
>found out about the raw meat kitfo so now I wonder
>how they came to have the same name. Does anyone
>know exactly what "kitfo" means in whatever Ethiopian
>language it is from? (I'm guessing it's probably
>Amharic - the language, that is.) Anyone here from
>Ethiopia??

Weird. I thought "kitfo" was a typo for "kifto," but they appear
interchangably in web references. I assumed kifto was related to
kefte -- Middle Eastern ground meat -- and ketethes -- Greek ground
meat meatballs or pattties. I'll bet, the number of references
notwithstanding, "kitfo" is a single typo that propagated, which
*does* happen.

Gomen does appear to be greens, and I suspect the same misinformation
propagation is responsible for "kitfo gomen."

There is a spiced butter called "niter kebbeh"apparently used in
Ethiopian cooking, and mentioned in one "kitfo gomen." recipe. This
further muddies the water, as a variant of Middle Eastern ground meat
is kibbeh or kibbi.

We definitely need an Ethiopian. :-)

BubbaBob wrote:
>
> Frogleg > wrote:
>
> >
> > Weird. I thought "kitfo" was a typo for "kifto," but they appear
> > interchangably in web references. I assumed kifto was related
> > to kefte -- Middle Eastern ground meat -- and ketethes -- Greek
> > ground meat meatballs or pattties. I'll bet, the number of
> > references notwithstanding, "kitfo" is a single typo that
> > propagated, which *does* happen.
> >
> > Gomen does appear to be greens, and I suspect the same
> > misinformation propagation is responsible for "kitfo gomen."
> >
> > There is a spiced butter called "niter kebbeh"apparently used in
> > Ethiopian cooking, and mentioned in one "kitfo gomen." recipe.
> > This further muddies the water, as a variant of Middle Eastern
> > ground meat is kibbeh or kibbi.
> >
> > We definitely need an Ethiopian. :-)
> >
>
> If I remember correctly, kitfo only refers to the raw meat dish. The
> others are kifto. I can't locate my copy of Mesfin's 'Green Book' at
> the moment, which would probably have the answer.

The collards/cottage cheese dish is kitfo every place I've
seen it - Ethiopian restaurant menues, my Ethiopian cookbook,
etc. Never one seen it spelled kifto.

Kate
--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?

BubbaBob wrote:
>
> Frogleg > wrote:
>
> >
> > Weird. I thought "kitfo" was a typo for "kifto," but they appear
> > interchangably in web references. I assumed kifto was related
> > to kefte -- Middle Eastern ground meat -- and ketethes -- Greek
> > ground meat meatballs or pattties. I'll bet, the number of
> > references notwithstanding, "kitfo" is a single typo that
> > propagated, which *does* happen.
> >
> > Gomen does appear to be greens, and I suspect the same
> > misinformation propagation is responsible for "kitfo gomen."
> >
> > There is a spiced butter called "niter kebbeh"apparently used in
> > Ethiopian cooking, and mentioned in one "kitfo gomen." recipe.
> > This further muddies the water, as a variant of Middle Eastern
> > ground meat is kibbeh or kibbi.
> >
> > We definitely need an Ethiopian. :-)
> >
>
> If I remember correctly, kitfo only refers to the raw meat dish. The
> others are kifto. I can't locate my copy of Mesfin's 'Green Book' at
> the moment, which would probably have the answer.

The collards/cottage cheese dish is kitfo every place I've
seen it - Ethiopian restaurant menues, my Ethiopian cookbook,
etc. Never one seen it spelled kifto.

Kate
--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?