Ethiopian BBQ — tibs, berbere and the grill of the Horn of Africa | The Rub Kitchen
Ethiopia has one of Africa's richest and most distinctive cuisines — and its grilling tradition is no exception. Tibs — roasted or grilled cubes of meat — is the country's most beloved meat dish, and the accompanying seasoning is unique in the world: berbere and niter kibbeh are flavorings without equivalent in any other cuisine.
Tibs — grilled meat Ethiopian style
Tibs (also: tibbs) is a dish of diced beef or lamb, quickly pan-fried or grilled over high heat with butter, onion, garlic, ginger, and spices. It's not slow BBQ — it's more akin to a high-heat sauté — but there are also versions where the meat is cooked on a charcoal grill, and the seasonings are identical.
Variations:
- Tibs (basic) — cubed meat with onion, garlic, ginger, berbere or mitmita (white pepper spice blend)
- Gored gored — raw beef cubes, seasoned with niter kibbeh and berbere — the Ethiopian steak tartare
- Dulet — finely chopped offal (lungs, liver, tripe) with niter kibbeh and berbere, lightly pan-fried
- Tere siga — raw meat, eaten with awaze (berbere paste) — traditional feast dish
Berbere — Ethiopia's spice blend
Berbere is the central spice blend of Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine — complex, hot, and aromatic. There is no standard recipe: every family has its own proportions. Typical ingredients:
- Dried red peppers (base — the heat)
- Fenugreek
- Coriander
- Black cardamom
- Allspice
- Cloves
- Cinnamon
- Ginger
- Black pepper
- Ajwain
- Sometimes: rose petals, rue
Berbere is mixed dry and stored, or mixed into a paste with oil and vinegar (awaze) for marinades and dipping sauces.
→ More about berbere: Berbere — the Ethiopian spice blend for BBQ
Niter kibbeh — the spiced clarified butter
Niter kibbeh is clarified butter slowly infused with onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric, cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves. It is the widely used cooking medium in Ethiopian cuisine — similar to ghee but richer in flavor. On the BBQ, it is used for basting grilled meats for a deep, buttery-spicy glaze.
Injera — the edible plate
All Ethiopian dishes — including grilled meat — are served on injera: a large, slightly sour pancake-like teff bread with a spongy texture. Injera acts as a plate, cutlery, and bread all at once. The sourness of the injera balances the heat of berbere and the richness of niter kibbeh.
Rub tip for Ethiopian BBQ
Rub Kitchen tip
The Jamaican Jerk BBQ Rub shares the allspice-cinnamon-ginger profile also found in berbere. For an Ethiopian-inspired lamb chop: rub with the jerk rub, add half a teaspoon of fenugreek, and baste after grilling with a mixture of melted butter and a pinch of cardamom.