What Is Berbere?
Berbere is the backbone of Ethiopian cooking — a deep red blend built on chili, with fenugreek, korerima, ginger, garlic, and a dozen other spices layered in. It brings heat, but heat is not the point. A good berbere is warm and complex, with a sweetness underneath the spice that comes from how the ingredients are toasted and balanced.
Berbere is what gives doro wat its color and depth, and it carries misir wot, shiro, and tibs just as well. It is also the easiest Ethiopian spice to bring into cooking you already do — on roasted vegetables, in a braise, rubbed on chicken before it hits the pan.
Our Blends
Berbere — our signature blend, for doro wat, lentil stews, and anything that needs warmth and depth.
Mitmita — hotter and brighter than berbere, built on bird’s eye chili with korerima and cloves. Traditionally served alongside kitfo, or set on the table for anyone who wants more heat.
Mitin Shiro — spiced roasted pea flour, the base for shiro wot. One of the fastest meals in Ethiopian cooking and one of the most comforting.
Clarified Butter — the blend for making niter kibbeh, Ethiopia’s spiced clarified butter. Niter kibbeh is the foundation under most Ethiopian dishes, and this is how you make it at home.
Whole Spices and Herbs
Korerima (Ethiopian black cardamom) — smokier and more resinous than green cardamom, and central to berbere and mitmita.
Nech azmud (white cumin) — earthier and sweeter than the cumin most American kitchens stock.
Koseret (wild basil) — a dried herb used in niter kibbeh and vegetable dishes, with no real substitute.
Tosign (Ethiopian oregano) — used in spiced butter and stews, more floral than Mediterranean oregano.
How to Start
If you are cooking Ethiopian food for the first time, start with berbere and mitin shiro. Berbere opens up almost every stew, and shiro comes together in twenty minutes. Add niter kibbeh when you want the dishes to taste the way they do at home, and keep mitmita on the table for anyone who wants more heat.
We grind in-house and blend in small batches, so the spices arrive with the oils still in them. Store them sealed, away from heat and light, and use them within a year.
