I do everything.

I clean, I cook, I cashier I do everything for the last 17 years.

This is Shita, the woman single handedly running Zagol, an Ethiopian Restaurant in Reno, Nevada.

And she's prepared a whole platter of traditional Ethiopian food for us!

*paper sound* jazzy music African hip hop music We have traditional Ethiopian food, four different things from the menu, main important thing it's called injera.

You use this to scoop the food to eat you tear this bread a little bit.

So I touch it.

It will be mine.

and then you just pinch the food with it.

And then you can eat it.

But for the first time, people I want you to taste it individually Christina: oooo!

I love how spongy it is.

It has a very sour taste to it.

It's kind of crepe like.

It's malleable.

It feels very natural when you start eating the injera bread.

That's the plate that's soaked up all of the flavors from all the dishes.

Because it has all the holes in, it picks up the sauces and the flavor into it.

And grabs the food better.

It's kind of fun and tactile I don't know, I just always like eating with my hands.

The food just taste better if you eat with your fingers.

A traditional Ethiopian meal is often served on a big platter, covered with injera, a spongy flatbread made from fermented teff flour.

Injera acts as both the plate and the utensil, and it's essential for Ethiopian family gatherings and celebrations.

In fact, the fermentation kickstarter ersho is often passed down through generations, similar to a sour dough starter.

Since injera is so ingrained in many Ethiopian traditions and celebrations, sharing, injera is often associated with respect, love, affection and connection.

Kitfo, which is very spicy.

It can serve a two way.

It can serve cooked or raw.

I use a little bit clarified butter a little salt a lot of cardamom and cayenne pepper.

I cook a little bit for us right now here.

But normally you warm the butter, you just put the meat, then you tossed it and you serve it to just kind of raw like tartar.

And that's pretty traditional?

Yes.

Very traditional.

Zilzil, which is lean beef.

It cuts into strips.

That one is like the same spices has, but it goes on the grill, it goes over the onion.

It came out sizzling.

when I serve to the people, come with the sizzling they say “oh my god!” This is cayenne pepper but it has a lot of different spice in there.

And this is fresh garlic.

And then this is black cardamom this one, you said it had cardamom in it.

Yeah.

I do taste it.

I like the spiciness of that one.

it's a little bit Tangier to me.

And I do enjoy this texture of this beef and the onions, because the onions are also not too cooked.

They have a crunch bite to them.

It's very hearty sourness, the tanginess of the bread combines really well with the savory ness of the meat, the sweetness of the onions.

I could smell it, come through the kitchen Ethiopian food has very strong smell.

when I make the big pot.

with the onion.

and the whole people passing here and they say my God what's that smell on my clothes.

Yeah.

My things maybe sometimes smell for a day or two.

Is there an alcohol in this?

Yes.

Okay.

it, like, melds together with the onions.

Really well.

Because, this one is flaming.

in Chinese culture, that flavor, you kind of get from a wok.

and in Cantonese its called “wok hei”, the heat from the wok And that's kind of the flavor.

Whatever spice in that.

It holds it, and then it flames it.

jazzy music ends gentle music What was it like growing up in Ethiopia?

Growing up is like, people have to help each other, you know, if you have kids.

if have a good, income you'll have to step in and help your family.

And if it's not somebody, you don't have kids, they don't have anything.

There there is no Social Security money.

There is no, retirement home.

There is no nursing home.

There's nothing.

So youre neighbor step in They take turns to feed those person.

They wash their clothes, they just take care of them.

having to depend on your neighbors to take care of you That really influences the food and how you eat it.

No matter what you do, you eat together.

Thats why these things come, you know, because we don't have individual plates for the people to give.

They serve you this big platter.

They fill it up with a lot of different things.

for four, or five or six of them.

Everybody share.

Ethiopia is the largest and most populated country in the Horn of Africa, with its capital, Addis Ababa, located near the center.

It's one of the oldest countries in the world, and its borders have shifted over the millennia.

Ethiopia was one of the first nations to sign the U.N. charter and played a key role in African decolonization, which led to the formation of the Organization of African Unity.

shaped by a rich history from the spice trade.

Ethiopian food features bold, unique flavors that blend earthy, spicy and sour notes gentle music ends That one is Number Two.

Gored Gored.

That has chili.

you can get a lot of the spice, it's like big on flavor and the meat feels more tender you know, when you have something like really fatty but then something tart comes in, it kind of helps balance that out.

So it's not...

It's not too greasy.

Yeah, it's not too heavy for you.

Yeah.

And then the vegetable.

Well, you know, there's six different vegetables I have, and it's all, vegan.

with the stems and the leaves.

It's just a nice texture to have because there's a bit of a bite to it.

Yeah, Yeah.

Like a crunchy the collard greens.

Theyre leafy.

The heartiness of the meat, the savory tenderness also combining with the leafy ness of the collard greens.

They're balancing each other out.

You can feel it.

normally when we make the Kitfo we always has Gomen to go with it.

And then in the side of it, we have homemade cottage cheese, So those three always go together.

That's how it's normally served.

You also do a coffee ritual.

Can you kind of talk a bit about that?

how a coffee ceremony started is, the man, go to work to make money, the woman to stay behind, to take care of the family So the woman need to get together and chat or gossip.

So they make the coffee because it takes long hours they drink that coffee and they talk and they gossip and they still do their stuff, And then before lunch time, they all go home because their husband come home for lunch.

So that's how coffee ceremony started.

Did you know Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee?

It's true.

Coffee has a rich history in Ethiopia, not just as a beloved drink, but as a key part of social life.

During traditional coffee ceremonies, people gather to chat, share news and pass down wisdom through generations.

The process takes several hours and starts with roasting green coffee beans until they turn a rich brown, then grinding them with a mortar and pestle and brewing them in a clay pot called the Jebena.

The coffee is served in three cups.

The first Abol is when the coffee is the strongest and most flavorful.

The second tona is more mild in taste since the same grounds are used and the last, Bereka is the lightest, signifying the end of the ceremony.

Snacks like roasted barley or popcorn are usually served alongside the coffee, but milk is never added.

even though the ceremony has evolved over time.

it remains a common and cherished way to connect with others.

jazzy music ends gentle guitar music I've eaten all the bread.

So now I can actually just start- You go around here.

I can just start taking it from the plate.

I want to eat the bowl or the plate And then you go like this and eat.

Yes, it's good.

Are these dishes important to you?

Yes.

To me especially.

I make it with all my soul because I love to cook, I love to eat food.

and another thing, where can you go get Ethiopian food?

This you don't get anywhere.

Its very different.

Its very tasty gentle music What is zagol?

This shell right here in my language its called zagol.

Zagol translates the seashell in Amharic and usually references Cowrie shells.

Cowrie shells have played a significant role in Ethiopian and African culture for centuries.

These small, durable white shells are used to create jewelry, hair accessories and even instruments like the Shekere which can create calming sounds for infants.

Cowrie Shells were once used as currency because they were portable and hard to counterfeit, which means that they slowly made their way around the world.

So now we know what Zagol is.

But why name the restaurant Zagol?

When the woman has a baby.

They make a baby carrier the bottom of that, they put these all down on the bottom.

So they carry the baby, every time she move, just make Sound of Music.

it just make the baby calm and go to sleep.

I opened this a restaurant in 2007 I was nervous when I first opened the restaurant.

So what's going to make me calm?

This is Zagol, and make the baby calm.

Maybe make me calm.

Don't get nervous.

It's okay.

Everything's going to be okay.

music transition As a little girl I wanted to do my own business.

I came from really poor family back home.

So I just wanted to have something on my own, and I also taught myself how to cook.

maybe it was good things that my parent didn't have anything because, maybe they have money.

Maybe I didn't learn anything.

where I come from, if you have money people have servants.

They have somebody to cook for them.

But I didn't have that chance.

So I have to better myself.

Even now, if I go anywhere else at the restaurant and I could eat that food I might not exactly have what they do, but I can cook it similar.

I have that kind of gift.

So you can figure out what kind of spices are in it?

Right.

Eating a dish and then trying to recreate it.

I couldn't do that.

I go up to the pantry and I'll pull out some paprika and I'll smell it probably, and go put it in, and then it'll taste nothing like what I wanted it to.

you had to practice again and again and again.

And that makes it even better.

You can feel the love I feel that way all the time.

Yeah.

I wish I don't get old, I can cook forever.

I know I really work hard.

And I puts my kids through college and I pay off my house because of the restaurant.

That's awesome.

I reach my goal for myself.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Is it meaningful to be able to share these recipes with everyone in Reno?

Yes, very, I didn't plan to open a restaurant when I first came here.

I've been here over 40 years.

It mean a lot to me now.

Bringing my culture here, it's important to me, I'm really happy I opened this restaurant to share my recipes, my food, my culture.

I just dont want this restaurant to disappear If someone wanted to come and take it over.

Not for any other food, but just for Ethiopian food.

That's all I want to do.

I just don't want it to go away Shita says she's always looking for someone to take it over after her and even says she'll happily teach them everything she knows.

Because I'm getting old, I'm getting tired, I want to pass it down to someone, can pick it up after me.

Thats all.

Thats all.

You put your heart into making this.

And we do appreciate and can feel that through the food.

Thank you.

Thank you for sharing this with me.

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