Japanese professional chef, Ryo is a volunteer of Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer (JICA) who came to Ethiopia to teach food preparation.  After almost 2 years of stay, he is now leaving Ethiopia where he enjoyed a lot.  So, before he leaves us to Japan, let me interview him about his stay and hear his final advices to Ethiopian food preparation professionals.

Jihoe5: Tell me about your experience in Ethiopia.

Ryo: Having traveled different parts of Ethiopia, I was impressed by the beautiful nature as well as how people value their culture. For instance, I was truly moved by the religious practice of people in the North.  As a chef, it was interesting to see unique Ethiopian food – totally different from Japanese food.  It is also wonderful to see the manner of sharing one dish with 3 to 4 people. 

Jihoe5: As how some foreigners feel, were you also afraid of food poison in the restaurants in Ethiopia?

Ryo: Luckily, I have never experienced food poison, but I was careful especially those restaurants or like cafeteria with dirty dining room.  I was also careful to see whether the hamburger’s meat is well cooked b because sometimes, the inside is uncooked.  I was also careful with salads. 

Jihoe5:  Have you ever heard of food poisoning experiences from your farenji (foreign) friends?

Ryo: It seems people got food poison through salads, not-well-cooked meat, and chimaki (mixed) juices.  They are a result of improper practice in the kitchen like not sanitizing through boiled water, placing food in improper temperature, using food inefficiently like leaving meat on the table without doing anything.

Jihoe5: Is it true that Ethiopians do not taste their food while they are preparing the food?

Ryo: From my experience, almost 95 out of 100 Ethiopians in the kitchen do not taste while preparing.  They seem to believe that if they follow the recipes correctly, like putting the right amount of ingredients, the taste should come out right. This is a strange practice for me as I was taught in Japan that tasting during and after the preparation is very important for “creating the taste”.  So I will taste the food in different steps during my preparation to imagine how the taste evolves to create the best taste.

Jihoe5: Are your students open to learn and taste foreign food?

Ryo: They seem to consider learning foreign food (Western, Asian, etc) is for their career, but not for them to enjoy.  I have an impression that when it comes to food, they are very conservative.  They are eager to learn preparing different food, but they do not taste what they have cooked especially Asian food!  Foreign dishes are still unfamiliar to many Ethiopians except like pasta and people have less curiosity to try them. 

Jihoe5: Thank you very much and at last, could you give us the final advices to food preparation professionals in Ethiopia?

Ryo’s advices to food preparation professionals:

1. Always wear a kitchen uniform and hut that are white and clean. In addition, always carry the cloth to wipe your hands. 

2.  For sanitation, even shoes and trouser should be only used in the kitchen, therefore, do not leave the building with kitchen attires.

3. Wearing the hut to cover your hair is inevitable in the kitchen as no matter how fantastic your have prepared the dish for the customers, if there is one single hair inside, it will ruin the entire meal experience.  And of course, that single hair is also unsanitary that may cause food poisoning!

4.  Before, during and after the food preparation, wash your hands thoroughly with soap.  Finger nails must be cut short and should not wear rings and watch.

5.  If there is any cut or injury in the finger or hand, it should be treated and covered not to touch food as it may cause the food poisoning for your customers.

6.  Cutting board should be washed with water for every time before you use. After used, wash it thoroughly, not to leave the food smell from the board.  Sometimes, wash with some salt or put boiled water and then dry it under the sun to sanitize it.  To avoid food poisoning, it is better to use separate cutting boards for meat, fish and vegetable.

7. Knife should be also washed thoroughly, dried and stored in the clean place.  Knife is a “mirror” that shows the attitude of the person who prepares the food.

8.  At last, being healthy is very important as it may affect customer’s health, so the kitchen supervisors should take it seriously as well.

Published:  November 17 (Sat) in Addis Admass newspaper in Amharic