You would have to tie me down to get me to eat anything in Ethiopia that hadn't been autoclaved. I have eaten a lot of things in my life, but no good flavor is going to make up for the intestinal worms and ptomaine, not to mention that if Achmed AIDSs Patient over there nicks his finger while butchering, it could be a very memorable meal.

My college biology professor told the class that peppers kill intestinal parasites.  It makes sense when you think about it.  Swimming in liquid shit that’s full of capsicum, ginger, or other fiery spices would have to be agony for the poor worms.

Taint wrote:

I've eaten this a number of times in Ethiopian restaurants here in the States, and it's delicious, especially with the berbere. I also have much greater faith in American health inspections than I might in some Third World country, although given the shitty performance of the FDA and the USDA under the Bush administration, I'm certainly not as confident as I used to be.

So have I.  I just figure that since most of their food is a stew variation its been cooked long enough to kill anything unsavory.  When I was in Vancouver I had wat made from goat.  It was very good.  I haven't seen goat on any of the Ethiopian menus here in the midwest, though.

We have a huge Ethiopian population (all cab drivers). There are so many Ethiopian restaurants here, I'm gonna have to try it. Not the camel tartare, but I'm intrigued.