Beyond Berbere: Makulaya, Matafecha & Ethiopia's Everyday Blends

Berbere may be the headliner, but walk through any Ethiopian spice market and you'll see the truth: this is a cuisine of many blends, each with a job. Some open the cooking, some close it, and some simply make everything better. Here is a tour of the working shelf.

Makulaya (ማቁላያ) — the opener

A blend of turmeric, garlic, ginger, and white cumin, makulaya is used as a sauté at the beginning of the cooking process. It goes into the onions before anything else, laying a golden, aromatic foundation — think of it as the Ethiopian mirepoix in powdered form. Find it here: Makulaya | Spice Blend.

Mekelesha — the closer

Where makulaya opens, mekelesha closes. This warm finishing blend — korerima, cloves, cinnamon, kundo berbere, and friends — is stirred into a wot in its final minutes, when the heat can lift its aromatics without cooking them away. It is why the last spoonful of a great doro wot smells as good as the first.

Matafecha (ማታፈቻ) — the all-rounder

An all-purpose flavor enhancer commonly made with shai kimem, tikur azmud, ginger, garlic, netch azmud, and kundo berbere. Keep matafecha next to the stove and reach for it the way you'd reach for seasoned salt — eggs, roasted vegetables, soups, marinades.

The supporting cast

Around these three orbit the specialists: afrenje, the mild alternative to chili-forward blends, built on Mareko pepper seed balanced with abish, tena adam, and besobela; alicha kimem for golden stews; metin shinkurt, the "measured" seasoned onion powder; and single spices like netch azmud and tikur azmud that bring balance to nearly every mix.

Build your shelf one blend at a time in our Spices & Pantry collection — and see each one at work in our Recipes.