Greens

What You Need:

• 1 bunch collard greens
• 1 medium onion, chopped (optional)
• a tablespoon or so of niter kebbeh
• salt and pepper to taste

What You Do:

1. Wash the greens well in a sinkful of water. Drain.
2. Cut the coarse part off of the ends of the stems (about 1/2-1 inch).
3. Chop the stems well and set aside.
4. Chop the collard leaves coarsely and set aside.
5. In a pot, heat up some niter kebbeh. Add the onion, chopped collard stems and some salt. Saute until the onion turns clear and the chopped stem have softened.
6. Add the collard leaves and stir well. Cook until tender adding a small amount of water if necessary to help the greens steam. (You might cover for a little while, stir and cover again, until softened to your liking.)
7. Season with salt and pepper and arrange on injera with some other stews.

Bulatovich:

Here too is the wot-byet -- the kitchen crew of the Ras. Several mules carry various utensils and the cook tent, which is made of black woolen material. The head of the kitchen and the chief cooks ride on mules, silently, with dignity. The female cooks act like the greatest dandies. They adorn themselves with silver necklaces, rings, and bracelets. Close by them walks a file of women of the injera-byet -- the bakery. They carry on their backs dough, fermenting in large gourds. They are just as merry as their friends in the tej-byet. Here is the baggage transport of the Ras -- a whole herd of mules loaded with all kinds of provisions, surrounded by teamsters, under the supervision of the head of the transport -- chincha-shuma. Having reached the edge of the heights, the road narrows and goes down along a very steep rocky slope, winding along ledges, which only allow passage by one person at a time. A whole sea of people and animals is backed up before the descent. And behind them more and more masses arrive. The growing crowd becomes an impetuous, deep river, which has suddenly been dammed. It seemed that calamity could not be avoided. In other words, it would only take for those behind to press on those in front to clear a place, and those waiting on the edge of the precipice would fall headlong into the abyss. But to my great astonishment, this didn't happend, and the crowd seemed to discipline itself. They made a lot of noise, but order stayed exemplary and each tried to support the other. If someone tried to push ahead, cries and incantations immediately poured on him from all sides: "Ba Wolda Giyorgis Amlak! Ba gora!" (In the name of the God of Wolda Giyorgis! In the name of the ravine!"). And the guilty party stopped, because otherwise his comrades would use force against him. The difficult descent was traversed safely, without any misfortune. I, for exmaple, was not even once pressed. This was the first time I had ever seen such intelligence and judgement in a crowd, which struck me and forced me to more deeply consider the seeming disorder of the Abyssinian army.

(c)2004 [ 64 ]

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