Traditionally made with ground teff (a grain native to Ethiopia) and served at room temperature, injera has a fermented taste that grows on you, even if its charms are not immediately apparent.
If the sobaliers seem to seek ever greater refinement of an ostensibly simple formula (noodles traditionally made with three basic ingredients, served cold with a small amount of dipping sauce), then the rameniacs (to borrow the name of a ramen-loving Web site) seek extreme variety, bold innovation, daring new creations.
It may seem surprising that a restaurant that doesn't exactly shy away from excess offers only one dessert, but, then, that dessert is a heaping bowl of halo-halo, traditionally made with shaved ice, condensed milk, and a hodgepodge of Filipino fruits and sweets.
Back in the kitchen, he offers guests the choice of making tagine stews; harira, a mutton and chickpea soup; pastilla, a savory pie traditionally made with pigeon; briouats, lamb-stuffed pastries; and the more familiar vegetable couscous.
For those south of the border unfamiliar with this delicacy, known as fadge or farls in Ireland, it is more like a flat bread than a fluffy teatime scone, traditionally made with leftover potatoes ("usually just after the midday meal, when [they're] still warm", according to F Marian McNeill's The Scots Kitchen) and cooked fast on a hot griddle.
Traditional Jewish cuisine takes a Mexican twist with dishes like tlayuda de pescado, a Oaxacan dish traditionally made with corn masa uses matzo instead on this special menu.
If you're willing to brave the heat, it's worth a trip to Rouge Tomate (10 East 60th Street) to sample their ajo blanco, a white gazpacho traditionally made with yogurt, garlic, grapes, almond, cucumber and sourdough bread.
After all, some very delicious sausages are traditionally made with large helpings of vegetables in them – a particularly delicious way of getting some of your five a day, some might think… .
Having worked in a dessert shop in the West Bank before his arrest in 2002, he began recreating kenafeh — a treat popular with Palestinians, traditionally made with stretchy white cheese and topped with crispy, syrup-soaked noodles or an orange-hued pastry — while in prison.
