Gored Gored
Overview
Gored gored is cubed raw beef, dressed in spiced clarified butter and served with chilli condiments. It is Ethiopian and Eritrean, and it is celebration food, served at holidays, at weddings, and when a household wants to mark an occasion. Raw beef occupies a particular place in Ethiopian eating that has no real equivalent elsewhere in Africa. Gored gored uses cubes, usually tenderloin or another tender cut, tossed in niter kibbeh, butter clarified with ginger, garlic, korarima and other spices, which is one of the foundations of the whole cuisine. Kitfo, its close relative, uses minced rather than cubed beef and is more heavily worked with the spice. The seasonings around it are the point. Mitmita is the fierce chilli blend usually served with it. Awaze, a paste built on berbere, is the other standard partner. Both are hot enough to be used sparingly and both are designed for exactly this. It is eaten with injera, and often with ayib, the mild fresh cheese, which cools it. Its exact origins are not well documented, accounts of how the dish arose are thin and largely speculative, and it is more honest to say that it is long-established than to repeat an origin story that cannot be supported.
AFN Heritage Note
Gored gored is documented in Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine as a celebration dish of cubed raw beef dressed with niter kibbeh, spiced clarified butter. Its close relative kitfo uses minced rather than cubed beef. Detailed accounts of the dish's origin are not well attested.
Ingredients
Dietary tags are provided by contributors as a guide, not verified by AFN, and they depend on the products you buy. If you have a serious allergy, check every ingredient yourself. Cooking, allergies and your own judgement
Directions
- 1
Melt the butter over low heat. Mix in the berbere.
- 2
Add in the beef, making sure that the cubes are coated in the spices.
- 3
Turn up the heat to high and sear the beef for 3 minutes.
- 4
Serve over injera with sautéed spinach or lentils.
Africook’s Notes
- Source the beef from a butcher you trust and tell them it will be eaten raw. This is not a normal purchase and they should know.
- Buy it the day you serve it. Raw beef dishes do not tolerate storage.
- Cut with a very sharp knife into clean cubes. A blunt knife tears the fibres and changes the texture badly.
- Keep it cold right up to the moment you dress it, and serve immediately after.
- Mitmita is extremely hot. Serve it alongside so people can judge, rather than mixing it all through.
Reviews
4 reviews
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Herh, my Ethiopian friend in Accra told me real gored gored is served raw raw without searing the beef at all, just tossing the sirloin in melted neter kiba and berbere! But searing it quick for 3 minutes like this is much better for my stomach paa. Tasted lovely with sautéed spinach.
Adwoa my sister, you speak my mind o! My own stomach cannot handle completely raw beef at all, no matter how traditional it is. That quick 3-minute sear with the berbere and spiced butter still gives all the rich flavor without giving you trouble later sha.
found good halal top sirloin at the Somali market near Cedar-Riverside here in Minneapolis and tried this yesterday. I didnt have proper neter kiba so I just used plain butter mixed with 2 tablespoons of berbere. quick 3 minute sear was perfect, meat was so tender. e sweet bad!
That 3 minutes on high heat is just right because the sirloin stayed so tender inside. Used spiced butter I bought from an Ethiopian shop in town. The berbere heat no be small thing o! My husband and I cleaned the whole plate with warm injera.