My experiences of Ethiopian food have taken place in America, with immigrant families who have come to live here and brought their cuisine with them.
I worked for a year with a young lady who hated to eat alone. Her everyday greeting was, “Come, eat with me.”
Perhaps the communal aspect of sharing and appreciating food is especially important where food is scarce.
-JT
There’s an Ethiopian dish that’s somewhat like NC barbecue, but beef, that I’ve enjoyed. Serving the food on a giant piece of flatbread with no utensils was different, you tear off a piece of the bread and pick up the meat with it, then eat it all.