A Study on Changes in Bread and its Background in the Shoa Region of Ethiopia in the Mid-Nineteenth Century

Abstract

The central part of Ethiopia was formerly known as the Shoa region. At the end of the 19th century, Menelik II (r. 1889-1913), a Christian from the region, became emperor of the Ethiopian Empire. In the 20th century, Ethiopian national cuisine was formed based on the food culture of the Christians of the Shoa region. Previous research has not adequately examined the changes in the food culture of Christians in the Shoa region in the 19th century. This paper clarifies that in the mid-19th century in the Shoa region, a change occurred in which royal families and aristocrats also began to eat pancakes made from teff (Eragrostis tef), which had previously been considered food for the common people. It is highly likely that this change was due to Menelik II, who spent ten years as a captive at Tewodros II (r. 1855-1868)'s court, bringing with him a food culture in which royal families and aristocrats also preferred to eat teff pancakes. Through these changes, by the late 1870s, pancakes made from a liquid batter mainly made from teff came to be recognized as the representative bread of the Shoa region, alongside wheat bread called dabbo.