(NPR) – Marcus Samuelsson was born in Ethiopia, raised in Sweden and now is a world-renowned chef in New York City. His cooking style is as international as his life story.
He sat down with NPR’s Steve Inskeep to discuss his multicultural Thanksgiving traditions.
“Like most immigrants, we roast turkey — we have turkey on the table,” said Samuelsson. “But our table is filled with people from all over the world that are Americans like us, new Americans … [So] there’s also the dishes from our [home] country.”
“I have Swedish potatoes au gratin,” said Samuelsson. “I have gravlax on the table. Then my wife makes a mean doro wat, which is this chicken stew from Ethiopia. She will always have some injera bread there.
“I think Thanksgiving is this incredible, great example where we as immigrants, we as Americans, bring in the culture or the history of where we come from,” said Samuelsson. “And then we serve it to our family, and I just think it’s a perfect marriage where you can show your identity, and you’re really proud to be an American.”
“Cooking for me is also a way of looking back,” said Samuelsson. “When I make the apple cake, I see my mother.
“So much of cooking and eating is about, ‘Where do we want to go in our memories?’ ” said Samuelsson. “We want to revisit the vacation. We want to revisit our college years. We want to revisit our childhood years.”
Growing up, he’d help his mother make her classic apple cake. “My job was always to sort of make the clock,” Samuelsson said, in describing the way the apples were arranged on top of the dessert. “My mom always cut 12 pieces.
“I always wanted to mess it up — I wanted to put apples all over,” he said. But his mother made sure the apples were adorned properly, because each person should get a slice of apple on their slice of cake.
Samuelsson feels everyone has a food story like his apple cake one.
“We all have food stories,” he said. “We all come from incredible backgrounds. And we can … share those memories … through food. And that’s the reason I love living in this country.”
Marcus Samuelsson’s Apple Cake Recipe
“I always joke about how bad my mom’s cooking was, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to realize that a lot of what I know about cooking came from her. I can’t even count how many times she made this honest, simple apple cake — it seems as if we always had one in the refrigerator and another in the freezer, just in case we had unexpected company. Even now, when we are all out of the house, she always has apples on hand, just in case she needs to whip up a quick dessert for visitors.”
Ingredients
2 tablespoons unseasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 Granny Smith apples
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
1 large egg
1-1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup half-and-half
2 teaspoons confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and coat with the bread crumbs.
2. Toss together the granulated sugar and brown sugar. Set aside.
3. Peel and core the apples, then slice one apple into 16 wedges. Combine the cinnamon and 1/3 cup of the sugar mixture in a medium bowl. Add the apple wedges and toss to coat. Roughly dice the remaining apple.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and the remaining sugar mixture on medium speed until light, fluffy, and lemon colored, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and mix until combined. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour and baking powder. Slowly add the half-and-half, and mix until combined. Fold the diced apple into the batter.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Arrange 14 of the apple wedges fanned along the outer edge of the pan and place the 2 remaining wedges in the center. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the center is golden brown.
6. Remove from the oven to a wire rack to cool completely. Run a small offset spatula around the edges to release the cake from the pan and remove the springform. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar, then cut into 12 wedges.
Ethiopian Review had reported 6 months ago that former Woyanne defense minister in Ethiopia, Ato Seye Abraha, was planning to join the Unity for Democracy and Justice Party (UDJ). He and former figurehead president Negasso Gidada today have announced that they are now members of UDJ whose head, Wz. Birtukan Mideksa, is currently in jail as a political prisoner.
Before joining UDJ, Seye had already become an influencial figure behind the party. He has brought with him his supporters and disgruntled members of the ruling Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) to UDJ. Now that he is officially a member, he is the de facto leader of the party. Thus the stage is set for a face off between Woyanne + AEUP vs. Woyanne + UDJ/Medrek. This is not a real choice for the people of Ethiopia.
No one takes former fake president Negasso Gidada seriously, despite BBC’s report that he is a popular figure. He is popular only among comedians. BBC and Reuters reported the following:
Ethiopia’s former President Negasso Gidada has joined an opposition party, as the country builds up to a [fake] election scheduled for next May.
Mr Negasso, in power [what power?] between 1995 and 2001, said he had joined the Unity for Democracy and Justice Party (UDJ) to try to unite Ethiopia.
Analysts say his defection and that of ex-Defence Minister Seye Abraha are likely to boost the UDJ’s popularity.
Its leader Birtukan Medeksa is in jail over protests after the last poll, in 2005.
She was arrested after violence broke out when opposition parties organized protests, citing election fraud.
Some rights groups have accused Prime Crime Minister Meles Zenawi of trying to ensure election victory by suppressing opposition — allegations he denies.
Pardons
The BBC’s Uduak Amimo in Addis Ababa says the two defections are a significant symbol of opposition to the government.
But she says the UDJ and its allies are unlikely to overhaul (?) the governing party in next year’s election.
Mr Negasso, whose role as president was largely symbolic, is said to be a popular politician. [According to who?]
He told Reuters news agency: “Our joining the UDJ sends a signal that we have to work hard for the unity of the country and the Ethiopian people.”
Some 200 people were killed after security forces opened fire during the protests which followed the 2005 elections. More than 100 opposition leaders, activists and journalists were convicted and jailed but most have since been pardoned.
Ethiopian ex-president, ex-minister join opposition
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – A former Ethiopian president and a former defense minister have joined the same opposition party, strengthening it against a government accused of suppressing critics before national elections in May.
Negaso Gidada, president from 1997 to 2001, and Seye Abraha a former rebel leader who became defense minister for four years from 1991, joined the Unity for Democracy and Justice party (UDJ) on Thursday.
The UDJ is part of an eight-party coalition called Medrek, or the Forum, that most Ethiopians view as the most significant threat to the government at the ballot box. The UDJ’s leader Birtukan Mideksa, 36, has been in prison since last December.
“Our joining the UDJ sends a signal that we have to work hard for the unity of the country and the Ethiopian people,” Negaso told Reuters, adding that if Ethiopian political parties were not ethnically diverse then the country could split.
Ethiopia has about 80 ethnicities and parties have traditionally been formed along ethnic lines. UDJ leaders now come from the three most prominent groups.
Seye was jailed for corruption in 2001 after falling out with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and, after his release in 2007, he became a vocal opponent of the government, which has been in power for nearly 20 years.
“POLITICAL PRISONERS”
Meles and Seye come from the Tigrayan ethnic group, who make up just 6 percent of the population but dominate politics.
Most analysts agree Meles’ Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) will win easily at the ballot box, despite growing allegations of squashing political criticism.
“They say that because the landscape is unfavourable for free and fair elections,” Seye told Reuters. “There are laws that can be used against voices of dissent. We will be making the release of political prisoners a campaign priority.”
Meles says the opposition is trying to discredit an election that it has no chance of winning and therefore provoke the West into stopping the aid which the poor country relies on.
Opposition leaders told Reuters this month that their members were being refused food aid to force them to join the ruling party. The government denied it.
Ethiopia’s last national elections in 2005 ended violently when security forces killed about 200 protesters in the capital Addis Ababa after the opposition said the government rigged the poll. Seven policemen were also killed.
Birtukan was jailed after a 2005 poll, pardoned in 2007 and sent back to prison for violating the terms of that pardon.
The country has never seen a peaceful change of government. Meles took power in 1991 after rebels led by him, Seye and others overthrew a Soviet-backed regime.
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA (Mercury News) — Two San Jose men suspected in the shooting death of a 25-year-old immigrant from Ethiopia, whose body was found in South San Jose, pleaded not guilty on Nov 23 to murder charges, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.
Samuel Rose, 20, and Ronald Correa, 20 , have been charged with the murder of Fisseha Isaac Gebremichael, 25, of San Jose, whose body was found Feb. 9 on the curb in the 600 block of Braxton Drive, located south of Hellyer Avenue.
Prosecutors allege Rose and Correa were armed with a .22 caliber handgun at the time of the murder, according to the charging documents.
Ashley Phelps, 20, of San Jose, pleaded not guilty to charges of accessory, according to the district attorney’s office. Prosecutors allege that Phelps harbored and concealed Rose after the murder, according to the charging documents.
Gebremichael died of a gunshot wound and was found by a resident early in the morning, according to San Jose police. Court documents that would provide more details surrounding the crime have been sealed by the court at the request of the district attorney’s office.
Rose, Correa and Phelps have a preliminary hearing scheduled for Jan. 25, a process in which a judge will determine if there is sufficient evidence to force the defendants to stand trial.
In our second meeting with President Isaias Afework last month, the other main topic of discussion was the current state of the Ethiopian opposition. … “Woyanne will collapse through evolution. Let’s revolutionize the process,” the president said. To that end, all the opposition groups need to come together and craft a “common political platform, which is lacking today.” He expressed his hope that such a common political agenda and an inclusive united front of Ethiopian opposition parties will be formed before the end of this year. … the full article will be posted shortly
A British film-maker and an Ethiopian doctor are producing a film that teaches Ethiopians to eat less so that they can avoid becoming obese, the report below explains. What the report fails to mention is that these fat Ethiopians are very few and belong to the ruling class, and they are commonly known as Woyannes. And the stupid doctor, Dawit Mengistu, who is involved in making the film, is best described as aggasses. The report is full of factual errors written by a lazy reporter named Dave Himelfield. Click here to see some photos of Woyanne kids for a glimps into their obscene lifestyle. The photo below is Meles Zenawi’s daughter and Sebhat Nega’s son partying and getting drunk.
HUDDERSFIED, UK (The Huddersfield Daily) — TWO Huddersfield men are out to save the lives of Ethiopians – from gorging, drinking and smoking themselves to death.
In a total U-turn from the haunting images of the 1984 famine which sparked Live Aid, parts of Ethiopia are now becoming affluent and some of its wealthier people are falling victim to Western-style excesses – including obesity.
Film-maker John Edmonds and public health expert Dr Dawit Mengistu – who was born in Ethiopia – have realised there is a growing health problem in the African country due to growing wealth and fast food restaurants opening.
Now the Examiner can exclusively reveal their move to tackle a problem no-one could have dreamed would ever exist in Ethiopia.
Old images of starving Ethiopian children – which prompted the 1985 Live Aid appeal spearheaded by pop star Bob Geldof – still haunt many people’s perception of that country.
But 24 years later Ethiopia has a growing affluent population which is gorging on western-style fast food, smoking and drinking.
‘White-collar’ sit down jobs are on the increase in urban areas – as is car ownership.
Mr Edmonds said: “Urban areas in Ethiopia teeter on the edge of yet another new crisis – diseases of affluence. Sadly, the western diet and lifestyle are becoming more and more popular with everyone who can afford them.
“Cars are in demand, western-style high-fat fast food outlets are multiplying, the use of tobacco and alcohol is increasing and, with all these changes, so is the incidence of diseases.”
“The average Ethiopian knows little of the dangers of fast food, lack of exercise, high-fat food and the like and the amount of public information on these issues in the Ethiopian language is rare.
“As the result, low-income countries such as Ethiopia are seeing shocking increase in obesity, heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
Hanatzeb Ethiopian Art Gallery, the first of its kind in Atlanta, celebrated its grand opening on November 1. The Gallery also hosted a 2-day art and litrature event this past weekend, Nov. 20 – 22, where Ethiopian traditional bread and coffee were served.
Located in the Buckhead neighborhood, Hanatzeb Gallery adds to the City of Atlanta’s growing art scene.
Along with paintings, the gallery carries Ethiopian artifacts, such as traditional crosses, masks, books, and household items.
The Gallery also hosts poem reading events and receptions for Ethiopian painters and artists to help them introduce their works.
The owner, Anteneh Girma, says that one of the objectives of the gallery is to introduce Ethiopia’s still undiscovered, but incredibly talented artists to the world.
Indeed many of the paintings currently on display in the gallery are stunningly beautiful. Most of them are brought from Ethiopia. Some have been produced by Ethiopian artists who are residing in the U.S.
The gallery is open from 10 AM – 6 PM from Monday through Saturday. It is located at 49 B Bennett Street NW, Atlanta, GA 30309.
(More information: Tel 404-352-4373 or visit Hanatzeb Gallery’s web site: hanatazeb.com)
(NPR) – Marcus Samuelsson was born in Ethiopia, raised in Sweden and now is a world-renowned chef in New York City. His cooking style is as international as his life story.
Ethiopian Review had 
HUDDERSFIED, UK (The Huddersfield Daily) — TWO Huddersfield men are out to save the lives of Ethiopians – from gorging, drinking and smoking themselves to death.
Hanatzeb Ethiopian Art Gallery, the first of its kind in Atlanta, celebrated its grand opening on November 1. The Gallery also hosted a 2-day art and litrature event this past weekend, Nov. 20 – 22, where Ethiopian traditional bread and coffee were served.