Increase in Teff Consumption in Northern Ethiopia between the 16th and 18th Centuries and the Birth of Injera

Abstract

Injera, a round and spongy pancake-like flatbread with a sour taste, is one of the most representative foods of Ethiopia. Injera is a traditional food of Semitic-speaking peoples in northern Ethiopia, but the custom of eating injera was adopted by other ethnic groups in Ethiopia in the 20th century. Although studies on the kingdom of Aksum, likely founded in the first century in northern Ethiopia, revealed that teff was cultivated and the clay tray, resembling the griddle used for the preparation of injera, appeared around the sixth century, no scholars stated that injera was the staple food in the kingdom. Inadequate attention has been paid to the time period wherein injera became the staple food in northern Ethiopia. This study reveals that the custom of consuming teff spread over a period of 250 years from the 1520s; round teff flatbreads became the staple food of northern Ethiopia by the early 1750s. The prototype of the present-day injera might have been born during these times of change, and famines caused by wars and climate change was one of the reasons for teff flatbread becoming the staple food between the 16th and 18th centuries.