Berbere
Encyclopedia
Berbere is a spice
mixture whose ingredients usually include chile peppers, garlic
, ginger
, dried basil
, korarima
, rue
, white and black pepper
, and fenugreek
. It is a key ingredient in the cuisines of Ethiopia
and Eritrea.
Berbere sometimes includes herbs and spices that are less well known internationally, including both cultivated plants and those that grow wild in Ethiopia, for example korarima (Aframomum corrorima
) and long pepper
.
Spice
A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetative substance used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for flavor, color, or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or prevents their growth. It may be used to flavour a dish or to hide other flavours...
mixture whose ingredients usually include chile peppers, garlic
Garlic
Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...
, ginger
Ginger
Ginger is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family . Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal....
, dried basil
Basil
Basil, or Sweet Basil, is a common name for the culinary herb Ocimum basilicum , of the family Lamiaceae , sometimes known as Saint Joseph's Wort in some English-speaking countries....
, korarima
Aframomum corrorima
Aframomum corrorima is a species in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. The spice, known as korarima, Ethiopian cardamom, or false cardamom, is obtained from the plant's seeds , and is extensively used in Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine. It is an ingredient in berbere, mitmita, awaze, and other...
, rue
Rue
Rue is a genus of strongly scented evergreen subshrubs 20–60 cm tall, in the family Rutaceae, native to the Mediterranean region, Macaronesia and southwest Asia. There are perhaps 8 to 40 species in the genus...
, white and black pepper
Black pepper
Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed...
, and fenugreek
Fenugreek
Fenugreek is a plant in the family Fabaceae. Fenugreek is used both as a herb and as a spice . The leaves and sprouts are also eaten as vegetables...
. It is a key ingredient in the cuisines of Ethiopia
Cuisine of Ethiopia
Ethiopian cuisine and Eritrean cuisine characteristically consist of spicy vegetable and meat dishes, usually in the form of wat , a thick stew, served atop injera, a large sourdough flatbread, which is about 50 centimeters in diameter and made out of fermented teff flour...
and Eritrea.
Berbere sometimes includes herbs and spices that are less well known internationally, including both cultivated plants and those that grow wild in Ethiopia, for example korarima (Aframomum corrorima
Aframomum corrorima
Aframomum corrorima is a species in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. The spice, known as korarima, Ethiopian cardamom, or false cardamom, is obtained from the plant's seeds , and is extensively used in Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine. It is an ingredient in berbere, mitmita, awaze, and other...
) and long pepper
Long pepper
Long pepper , , sometimes called Indian long pepper, is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. Long pepper has a similar, but hotter, taste to its close relative Piper nigrum - from which black, green and white...
.