FOOD FOR MIND, BODY AND SOUL Exploring cultural cuisines from Africa, Asia and Europe that can be found in the OC Story by Iyanna Warrick and Aprel Rose © Photography by Aprel Rose
Beef sambusa, chicken lamprais and beef kabob entrees with hummus and garlic sauce are not dishes you would see in every restaurant. These dishes all come from different continents but you can find them all within Orange County.
ABYSSINIA
Abyssinia is an Ethiopian restaurant located in Anaheim. Mehari Woldeselassie is the current owner of this establishment after taking it over from his family members. Despite taking on a big role of owning the restaurant, he gets help sharing Ethiopian culture from his wife and two children. In Ethiopia, they have multiple traditions when it comes to dining. One tradition Woldeselassie highlights in his restaurant is the coffee ceramony, also known as Jebena Buna in the indigenous Amharic tongue. He brought this tradition into his restaurant with the goal of introducing it to new customers and bringing everyone together to enjoy the fresh coffee. For this ceremony, employees roast coffee beans in front of the guests and serve them coffee in small cups. Due to the pandemic, Woldeselassie has not been able to do the coffee ceremony. He says, “Sometimes I do the coffee [ceremony] by myself just to smell the essence of it. It makes me sad.” He hopes that since more places are opening up, more people will come visit his restaurant and he is able to do the ceremony with customers again.
33
FALL 2021
