African Taste

Could it be that the East Africans use more butter than the French? In a "butter-off", I'd bet my calories on the Africans. Spiced butter, after all, is one of the cornerstones of Horn of Africa cuisine, and you will find some good buttery renditions at African Taste — a pint-sized restaurant in Seddon, a hop away from Footscray's Little Ethiopia.

It's a humble spot, owned and charmingly run by Binyam Tesftion, who hails from Ethiopia. The mostly African staff are smiley and welcoming and will quickly sort you out with a bottle of gutsy Ethiopian stout or a glass of organic Sunzest, the king of orange juice.

Tesftion's cooking experience is broad. He owned a restaurant in Greece that explored the unlikely combo of Greek and African cuisines and worked for an Italian restaurant at Crown for several years.

His food takes a bowerbird approach and the pan-African menu spans Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan and Morocco. There's even a dash of Mexican with the "African enchilada", like a wacky nachos of chicken fried with berbere (the serrano-chilli spice mix) and pieces of Lebanese bread smothered with cheese.

The signature Fufu Extra is another example of this pioneer fusion. The "fufu" is gnocchi made with barley flour, and you will receive a generous plate of the dark, earthy nuggets (soft little pillows with a not unpleasant, almost grainy, consistency) in a buttery, creamy sauce laced with berbere and with a dollop of natural yoghurt in the centre. The "extra" is the meat: small pieces of chicken, or lamb or fish, or spinach ricotta for vegetarians.

In Eritrea, the dish is traditionally served as one big gnocchi with an indented centre filled with spiced butter; berbere and yoghurt sit on the side and there is no meat. With more ready access to ingredients, African Taste's version is modified with the meat addition and the pasta is cut to resemble Italian-style gnocchi. It's an arresting dish with a buttery richness that will stop you in your tracks.

Meloukhia leaves are used in the Sudanese-style stew; the herb is a cousin of okra and the leaves create a similar gelatinous texture. Onion, tomato, chilli and lots and lots of garlic simmer with finely diced lamb then mixed with meloukhia, as a spinach substitute. The meat can sometimes be disappointingly tough, like it needs more — or less — time in the pot. But apart from that, it's a flavoursome, filling dish served on a bed of basmati rice.

You will also find good chicken tibs — a saucy fry-up of meat and onions with the juices soaking into the holes of the spongy injera bread — that come with two dots of green chilli paste on the side.

The African Taste salad is a take on Lebanese fattoush. Rough-cut iceberg lettuce, chunky tomato, cucumber and garlicky fried pita bread is sprinkled with sumac and tossed in a zesty lemon and olive oil dressing. It's good.

Food here is superb value. It's also the type of easy place where you can hang out for a while. Just check any butter anxieties at the door.

Ingredient watch ...

Pick up some injera bread and African spices from Mesnoy Injera Bakery
(77 Irving Street, Footscray, 9687 8855).

Also try ...

Gibe African Restaurant (108-112 Foster Street, Dandenong, 9792 9929), which has a bar and no fear of chilli.