Ethiopian Cuisine

Most of my food experiences are based on what I see here in the village but I still think it is interesting.
The predominant staple food here is injera which is generally served with some sort of wat.
Injera is a sort of bubbly sourdough pancake or soft flat bread made from Tef flour. I haven't seen tef growing but am told it looks similar to wheat. Injera is It is brought to the table on a platter rolled up like so many 3 inch wide ace bandages. Than you unroll it on your plate and pretty much cover your plate with it and place the wat of the day on top. It is rolled out with the bubbly side up so it absorbs the wat.
Wat is a spicy stew of sorts that appears to have a spicy tomato base. It is red in color and while it is spicy I doubt the color all comes from red pepper. It can have a variety of things in it. tonight it was called potato burberre and had mostly potatoes. At noon it was messer wat and appeared to be made with red lentils. Sometimes it is bean wat and made with brown lentils. It also comes with beef and fish somedays. To me the flavor varies little but the kids here have a distinct preference.
One observation that I have made is that sometimes the mommas eat injera and wat when less traditional food is served if it is available. Also the cleaning people, teachers and other workers here  bring packed lunches of the same kind. Injera and wat.
It is eaten by hand. I get teased if I use utensils. Mama  Birhani gave me lessons on how to eat it correctly.
Here the menu is supposed to be half Ethiopian food and half western style food. I haven't seen anything that quite makes it as Western style food I am familiar with. The expectation is that proper utensils will be used with Western style food.
I have been observing the children here as they eat. They have different taste preferences. What fascinates me is the level of spice even little Adonay at 2 can tolerate. He eats his wat like nobodies business. I would say over half of the kids prefer the spicier foods. Vegetables are served with the wat and injera almost always. Generally a tomato rich salad of some sort. Sometimes cooked potatoes and carrots with onions and a few other things tossed in too. Tonight it was cooked greens that are called cabbage by the kitchen and gara ? by the kids, to me they seem kind of like diced cooked kale with a lot of garlic. The boy sitting next to me at piles of the stuff. Many of the kids here are quite thin but you can't attribute that to diet. I have watch 5 year olds eat 4 or more rolls of injera and bread and vegetables beside.
In all cold raw salads there appear sliced green peppers. They are local and have another name but are similar to Jalpeano's. The little girls can gobble them up. I ate 2 after watching them and wasn't sure I could get them down. Whoa they are spicy.
All of this tells me that food preference definitely depends on exposure.