True Ethiopian Cuisine

True Ethiopian Cuisine is a family-owned business, based in San Carlos. They are primarily a catering business but have adapted to taking individual orders during the pandemic. The staples of Ethiopian cuisine are wot, a spicy stew of meat and vegetables, and injera, a flat sourdough made of wheat, barley, and teff, a grain native to Ethiopia. The business offers a variety of vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options, from vegetable wots to 100% teff flour injera. The primary seasoning of Ethiopian food is berbere, a combination of chili, garlic, nigella, Ethiopian cardamom, and a few other spices. Alecha wot is a stew with the exclusion of berbere, making it less spicy. True Ethiopian Cuisine also serves tibs, sauteed meat with onions, and basic seasonings. The restaurant can bring an interesting, spicy twist to normal take-out. 

The highlight is definitely the Veggie Combo, with 4 vegetable dishes of your choice. The standard Miser Wot (red lentils with berbere sauce), Atakilt Wot (stewed cabbage with carrots and potatoes), Gomen Wot (stewed collard greens), and Kik Wot (split yellow peas) was a great combination. The peas were buttery and rich, the lentils were fragrant and not too spicy, the cabbage was sweet, and the collard greens introduced a fresh taste to the medley. Soaking up all the spices and sauces was the injera. It was very light and spongy, completely different from what is normally considered sourdough bread. The airy bread is not too filling, perfect for accompanying the heavier side dishes. The injera also went very well with the lamb tibs, the sourness amplifying the light seasoning for the meat.