Photos: The brightly handmade Injera basket
Injera baskets are woven platters used to transfer injera, a flatbread that is a staple of traditional Ethiopian cuisine, from oven to table.
The basket serves as both table and covering for meals, and is a prominent feature of many living rooms. Some persons use the injera basket to decorate their homes.
The basket which comes in various designs and shapes ranges in size from very small to enormous ones which are used to store injera and, are given as wedding gifts.
These baskets are sold by Ethiopian women in the Aksum basket market. This market takes place under the massive fig tree shading the heart of the piazza.
According to research, these baskets are highly sought after by Ethiopians from other regions who stock up on them when they come to Aksum at festival time
Women also bring their brightly-colored handwoven injera baskets to the market at the center of town for the market attached to the festival of Maryam Tsion (St. Mary of Zion) in Axum, Ethiopia.
What is INJERA?
Injera is traditionally made out of teff flour, it is a national dish in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
It is a sour, thin pancake-like flatbread made from fermented teff batter that is soft and delicious.
It is typically used as a scooping base for stews, meats, and vegetables such as Doro wat, gomen wat, and other dishes
It’s gluten-free, high in protein, calcium, and iron, and incredibly nutritious. This spongy, sour flatbread is used to shovel up meat and vegetable stews in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Injera is also used to line the platter on which the stews are served, soaking up the fluids as the meal goes on. The lunch is officially done when this edible tablecloth is consumed.
Image source: Pinterest
