"Cooking is like an art. Some people will learn it from school, but I have that talent. Even when I was a refugee, I was a cook in the American embassy in Djibouti. I have that passion for cooking," said Demeke Getahun, president of Siloam Ethiopia, a nonprofit organization that has opened a free medical clinic in Harar, the Ethiopian hometown of his wife, Wegayhu Ketema.
Getahun learned to cook from his mother. After his father died when he was very young, Getahun spent much of his time helping his mother, and he learned both by observation and through practice. Those cooking skills have been called upon for Siloam Ethiopia fundraisers, where the public can sit down to a buffet meal of Ethiopian favorites. On Saturday, May 11, however, Getahun will step into the role of teacher, as he and Ketema lead an Ethiopian cooking class.
The class will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. at Ethiopian Evangelical Church of Landisville, 175 Church St., Landisville. Attendees will learn how to make siga tibs, atakilt wat, and yellow split peas. Getahun described siga tibs as a beef dish cooked with onion, a special kind of pepper, garlic, jalapenos, special butter, and tomato.
"It's a very tasty food. You can make it as spicy as you want," Getahun said, acknowledging that folks have varying tolerances of spicy food. "When we do the class, we'll explain how to cook it without spice."
Atakilt wat is a mixture of cabbage, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, onion, garlic, ginger, and olive oil. Cooks who want it spicy may add jalapeno peppers at the end.
The yellow split peas are mild but flavorful. "Everybody loves that one," Getahun commented.
Attendees will cook each dish, and then they will sit down to eat together. The food will be served with injera, a sourdough-type flatbread made with teff, a gluten-free grain.
Ketema, Siloam Ethiopia's vice president, will help to lead the cooking class. Getahun praised the versatility of his wife's cooking by saying, "We can make Italian and Indian food. Wegayhu went to school in India for eight years. She cooks the best rice."
Cooking class attendees will receive a gift basket containing a Siloam Ethiopia apron, recipes for each of the three dishes, Ethiopian coffee, and spices important in Ethiopian cooking.
"They can cook Ethiopian food when they go home," Getahun said.
A cost has been set to attend the class, with a special price for folks who attend in pairs. The proceeds will support an orphanage that Siloam Ethiopia is opening in a small town called Babile, which is located about 45 minutes from the clinic. Several youths are slated to move into the home to be cared for by Ethiopian house parents when the facility is ready in a few weeks. "They are very poor young ladies without mother and father. We want to give them a good life," Getahun remarked.
Registrations for the cooking class are due by Thursday, May 9. Folks may register by visiting http://www.siloamethio.org. For more information, readers may contact Ketema at 717-669-0930 or siloamethio@gmail.com.
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