Ethiopian cuisine is unique by way of ceremony, flavour, colour and presentation. First decorated metal or clay water jugs are brought to the table and their contents poured over the guests’ outstretched hands into a small bowl below. This cleansing is sometimes followed by a short prayer of thanksgiving. The first course, which immediately follows this ceremonial aspect of the meal, is usually a mild dish such as curds and whey to cleanse the palate for the more spicy offerings that tollow. Wot, the national dish, comes in many varieties – meat, fish, poultry or vegetable – of hot pepper and spice stews which are almost always accompanied by a fermented form of unleavened bread called injera. Layers of the bread are geometrically positioned in mesobs, or basket tables, and spoonfulls of the different types of wot are then attractively portioned out on top of them. Then it’s finger time, tearing off a piece of injera and wrapping it around a chosen piece of meat with savoury sauce.