Genfo

An ancient highland staple from the Amhara and Oromo regions, where barley has been the dominant grain for over two thousand years thanks to altitude tolerance. Genfo is ritually served to a mother in the days after childbirth — the spiced butter is believed to aid recovery — and at the dawn meal of major Orthodox fasts when one heavy meal must carry the whole day.

Barley has been the dominant Amhara and Oromo grain for over two thousand years thanks to altitude tolerance. Toast the flour dry before any water hits — raw flour gives raw porridge no matter how long it cooks; the spoon should stand upright when it's done.

A dense barley-flour porridge mounded in a bowl, with a well pressed into the middle and filled with niter kibbeh and berbere. Eat by pinching a piece off the edge with the right hand and dragging it through the spiced butter. Heavy enough to stay with you all morning — traditionally served at dawn, after a birth, or to a sick person who needs ballast.

Toast the barley flour first in a dry pan until it smells nutty — raw flour gives raw porridge no matter how long it cooks. Then whisk into boiling water aggressively to prevent lumps; the porridge is done when a wooden spoon can stand upright in it. The center well isn't decoration: it portions the spiced butter so each bite gets the same hit instead of the bottom of the bowl going dry.