A Conversation with Saba from Taste of Ethiopia and Light of Africa
KM –
18 Jul, 2025
As part of our project, we’re connecting with local home cooks, chefs, brewers, restaurant owners, and local fermenters to learn about traditional (and new) fermented products and practices across the African diaspora.
We recently had our first conversation with Saba, who runs Light of Africa in Brixton Village (Unit 55), a restaurant serving delicious Eritrean and Ethiopian vegan food. You can also find her at the Herne Hill Market on Sundays as Taste of Ethiopia, where she sells a range of nourishing food and drinks.
We were struck by Saba’s generosity of spirit. She shared stories of the vast and rich ferments from Ethiopia and Eritrea — many of which you can try at Light of Africa. We spoke about fermented breads like ambasha and defo dabo, ayib (Ethiopian cottage cheese), and even got to see and smell kibbeh, a fragrant clarified butter infused with herbs.
Saba also spoke to us about how injera is made, and how fermentation is woven into everyday life. Many of these practices are learned from a young age, passed down through repetition and care.
"When we are little, they always let us make the last one. See, injera is big. When you’re a girl in the house, they let you do a little one. Before you know it, you’re making it for the whole family. Everybody learns from a young age"
Another highlight of our conversation was about Tej, a traditional Ethiopian honey wine. Saba showed us the berele / ብርሌ (bərle), the distinctive glass vessel it’s served in.
We also touched on the communal rituals around coffee, how the time taken to make and share it offers space for connection. Saba spoke about the slow, deliberate rhythm of the process: roasting the beans, boiling the coffee, waiting for it to settle, and serving it across three rounds. She described how back home in Ethiopia, neighbours will often gather to drink coffee together, a moment especially shared among women.
“Coffee… is, I think, for Ethiopians, it’s like therapy. If you’ve got a problem with the children, or with a husband… People talk. It’s a very, very traditional thing. I wish that we will never lose this.”
We are grateful for the time Saba took to share her wealth of knowledge, not only about fermentation but also about the shifting practices and foodways across the Ethiopian diaspora. If you’re curious to experience some of what we spoke about, you can find her at Light of Africa in Brixton Village (Unit 55) or at Herne Hill Market on Sundays, where she shares a rich offering of Eritrean and Ethiopian vegan food and drink.
