As a great fan of creamed spinach in all forms, I was anxious to try making my own version of Ayib be Gomen, the collard greens dish I have enjoyed on a couple occasions at Abay. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot of consistency among the recipes I consulted, and the spices included in these recipes seemed a bit too simplified for my liking. This was an issue that Sabrina has also reported when attempting Ethiopian dishes; many of the recipes she’s found for homestyle Ethiopian vegetable dishes are not at all spice-rich.
Since I recently put together a satisfactory berbere recipe, I decided to rely on that as the main spice. Before posting this recipe I tried at least three different permutations of this recipe, and I will offer my commentary on each below:
3 tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon garlic
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1-2 tablespoons berbere
black pepper
1 lb fresh or frozen greens
salt and/or pepper
goat cheese, feta cheese or ricotta cheese
extra water
Saute the onion and garlic in the melted butter until onions are softened. Add the ginger and spices and a little extra water, when necessary. Fry the spices for about 10 minutes and then add the greens. Cook covered until greens are softened. Season with salt & pepper, to taste. Before serving, top with crumbled goat or feta cheese, or stir in some ricotta.
First I tried this recipe using spinach, ricotta and my simple berbere. I was a little disappointed, especially in the cheese. I had also wanted to try it with collard greens, which a lot of recipes I found called for, but didn’t have any on hand. Next up, I was determined to try it will real collards. I also recalled, on my last visit to Abay, that the waiter had likened their homemade cheese, used in this dish at the restaurant, to goat cheese, so I figured that some goat or feta would serve it better.
I found some frozen collards at the grocery store, but unfortunately, the goat cheese was way over-priced and so I got feta instead. The dish was okay, but I was still not pleased with it. I froze my leftovers, determined to try again with goat cheese. When I finally got my hands on some, I reheated my frozen leftovers, adding more berbere, and served it with my goat cheese.
The goat cheese was an improvement, but again, it did not rise much above “okay.” Ultimately, I think I just didn’t like the flavor of the collards (not sure what they do to them at Abay that I liked them so well there). If I try this recipe again, I will go back to spinach, and make sure to have goat cheese on hand.