Friday, July 5, 2013

Lost in Translation: "Faranji" Onion Soup


This week, I came down with a bit of a cold—kind of a bummer when you’re abroad.  My voice was hoarse, so I decided to seek out restaurants with some soup choices.  I walked to Downtown Restaurant for dinner and perused their menu.  Cream of chicken—I don’t get why this exists; Cream of mushroom—too creamy; Minestrone—maybe; Vegetable soup—had it for lunch; French onion soup—PERFECT.  I could already taste that dark, rich, sweet broth and feel it soothing my throat.  Next to chicken tortilla and hot & sour soup, French onion is my go-to when fighting a cold.  I ordered some tea and read my book as I waited, which is always quite a while in Addis restaurants.  Finally, I saw the waiter headed towards my table, and this is what he set in front of me:


"French Onion Soup"
I almost laughed out loud.  At first I thought it was cream of chicken or mushroom with some onion rings for garnish, but it’s actually a bowl of onion rings suspended in a (slightly) thinner version of béchamel sauce.  Although it wasn’t what I was expecting, it was delicious.  

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