SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News)- Since its grand opening in 2021, Salt City Market has quickly become a familiar name in the community. Inside, there are ten unique vendors featuring cuisines from across the globe like Big In Burma serving Burmese food, Baghdad serving Middle Eastern cuisine, Erma’s Island cooking up Jamaican, and much more. The newest stall in the market is the only place in Syracuse to find this type of cuisine. Habiba’s Ethiopian Kitchen opened in Salt City Market earlier this month and features traditional East African dishes.
“My journey into cooking started with my mother in the refugee camp where we lived,” Boru said. “She would basically cook to keep the roof over our head and clothes on our backs.”
Boru still can vividly remember one meal her mother would frequently cook while living in Ethiopia: red lentils. Growing up, Boru said her family didn’t have access to meat, so it was common to eat vegetarian or vegan meals. Boru credits her mother’s cooking skills to making the vegetarian meals as amazing as they were.
“She would mix the red lentils so good to the point that we didn’t miss out on the meat and the chicken.”
The lentil dish, called Misir Wot, is on Boru’s vegetarian menu and is a seasoned red lentil stew with berbere, garlic, tomatoes, and black pepper.
The most popular item on the menu at Habiba’s Ethiopian Kitchen is Beyaynetu; a dish where there’s six vegetarian options on one plate. It’s a way to sample a few different items on the menu at once.
Ethiopian food is much different than traditional food found in the United States. Boru says when she first came to the States she was faced with many challenges in the kitchen.
“We did have a lot of challenges specifically to the spices,” Boru said, “because locally here in Syracuse there’s not a lot of Ethiopian storefronts where you can go and buy Ethiopian spices.”
There are however storefronts in D.C or Canada that carry what Boru needed. So she would make the journey and buy what she needed in bulk.
“My goal and my mission with my cooking is to keep the culture alive,” Boru said, “so people can get used to and be introduced to Ethiopian culture.”
Syracuse is a diverse community with people from many different backgrounds and places across the world. Yet, a lot of people are still unfamiliar with different food from different cultures. By opening Habiba’s Ethiopian Kitchen, Boru hopes to make her cuisine a norm in the Syracuse community. The restaurant also has the honor of being the only place in Syracuse where Ethiopian cuisine is served. Boru said that is a privilege she’s very proud to have.
“It means so much when somebody’s craving that particular food, they’re coming to Habiba’s,” Boru said. “It’s an honor for me to be there and I want customers to have a taste of Ethiopia in their mouth and in their hearts.”
