Your phone says September 2026. In Ethiopia, it’s 2019. On Friday, Ethiopians welcomed a new year with family, flowers, coffee and a table built for serious eating. Turns out there’s more than one perfectly reasonable answer to “What year is it?”
So, What Year Is It?
The greeting is “Melkam Addis Amet” (መልካም አዲስ ዓመት), Happy New Year. And if 2019 sounds like somebody forgot to update the calendar, Ethiopia would politely disagree.
The Ethiopian calendar, often called the Ge’ez calendar, has 12 months of exactly 30 days, followed by Pagume, a 13th month with five days, or six in a leap year. This year, Meskerem 1, the first day of 2019, fell on Sept. 11.
Why the seven-to-eight-year gap? Western and Ethiopian Christian traditions settled on different ancient calculations for dating the Annunciation. The result is two year counts that have been running on their own tracks for centuries.
And this isn’t just a holiday curiosity. Some Ethiopian official records show dates in both the Ethiopian and Gregorian systems. An Ethiopian friend tells us that having two familiar ways to date things can make family conversations lively, especially across generations. Ask when something happened, and one person may answer in the Ethiopian year while another is already converting to the Gregorian calendar in their head.
Fortunately, nobody needs a calendar converter for dinner.
New Year brings families together around injera, spicy stews, meat dishes, vegetables and coffee. Gomen wat can join the platter, tej may be poured, and doro wat often gets the sort of attention normally reserved for the guest of honor.
Two calendars. One table. Dinner still shows up exactly when it should.
Featured Country: Ethiopia
Ethiopian food makes sharing part of the meal. Injera spreads across the platter, then soaks up spoonfuls of wats, lentils, greens and meat while everyone reaches in together. For Enkutatash, that communal style feels especially fitting. The holiday arrives as the rains retreat, yellow Adey Abeba flowers appear, and families gather to welcome a fresh year. Make Ethiopian Injera Try Gomen Wat Discover Ethiopian Tej
Start Cooking: Ethiopia
Doro Wat (Chicken Stew)
Chicken, onions, berbere and hard-boiled eggs simmer into the deep, slow-cooked stew built for a holiday table.
Misir Wat (Red Lentil Stew)
Red lentils and berbere bring warmth and a meat-free counterpoint to the richer dishes crowding the injera.
Yebeg Tibs (Lamb)
Seared lamb, onion, rosemary, green chile and niter kibbeh make this fast-cooking tibs especially welcome at a celebration.
Food Trivia: Three Coffees. No Rush.
A proper Ethiopian coffee break can make your grab-and-go cup look embarrassingly impatient. A traditional coffee ceremony may serve three rounds from the same grounds: Abol, the strongest first brew; Tona, a lighter second round; and Bereka, the final and lightest serving, whose name is associated with blessing.
The beans may be roasted and ground in front of guests before brewing in a jebena. Coffee gets lighter as the ceremony goes on. The conversation, happily, has no such requirement. Nor should it.
Food Quiz: How Weird Is Your Calendar?
If New Year in September has rearranged your calendar, you’re nicely warmed up. Now try matching countries to some decidedly unusual food celebrations. Tomato fights, pink soup, cream buns, carved radishes and even competitive egg throwing are all on the schedule somewhere. The only question is: Do you know where? Take the Weird Food Holidays Quiz
Favorite Find: Brundo Berbere
If Ethiopian cooking is headed for your kitchen, start with the spice that keeps turning up for good reason. Brundo Spice Company sources and traditionally processes berbere in Ethiopia, tracing its roots to founder Fetlework Tefferi’s Berkeley Ethiopian restaurant. Use it in doro wat, misir wat, tibs or wherever your dinner could use a little more backbone. Visit Brundo Spice Company
Share The Menu
Know someone convinced there’s only one correct answer to “What year is it?” Send them this issue. Worst case, they learn about a 13-month calendar. Best case, somebody makes doro wat, pours the coffee and invites you over. We consider that a very respectable return on one forwarded email.
Next Week
Think croissants are uniquely French? Not so fast. Next week, we follow the buttery trail beyond Paris to see where the story really began.
