Ethiopia 🇪🇹, Horn of Africa

A group of Ethiopians eating raw meat lunch.

This popular dish among Ethiopians is called “Tere siga”.  The meat comes mostly from the cow and is served with a hot, crushed spice mix called mitmita, a hot dipping sauce called “awaz,” and cinavic (mustard sauce).

A famous theory behind Ethiopians tasting raw meat comes from the Abyssinian-Just War in 1600. It is believed that Ethiopians started eating this food during a battle. It was a war between Ethiopians and Somalians. It is believed that every time the Ethiopian army prepare meat, he easily catch the enemy outside and kill them while they are sleeping.  They later realized that those who were mostly using the fire they built to roast or cook meat to mark their location. To avoid being attacked in this way again, they chose to consume their meat raw rather than roasting or cooking it.

This was later incorporated into Ethiopian culture and developed into a popular rakaa in honor of the occasion.