Kitfo (Minced Beef with Spiced Butter)

Kitfo comes from the Gurage region and is Ethiopia’s most daring delicacy: fresh beef minced fine, warmed gently in spiced niter kibbeh, and tossed with mitmita, a searing chili-and-cardamom spice blend. It is served nearly raw — the way the Gurage people have enjoyed it for generations — and it is a dish of ceremony, served at holidays and celebrations, eaten with ayib cheese, gomen, and plenty of injera.

Silky raw beef, warm butter, a serious kick

Done right, kitfo is silky and rich, the warmth of the spiced butter barely cooking the surface while the center stays cool and tender. Mitmita brings serious heat and a citrusy cardamom fragrance that cuts through the butter’s richness, and the cool, crumbly ayib is the perfect landing pad. If raw beef is not for you, cook it through — kitfo leb leb — and you will still taste why this dish has traveled from the Gurage highlands to restaurants around the world. Use the freshest beef you can find; that is the whole secret.

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