Where to Start with Luladey Moges
Luladey Moges grew up in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where she learned to cook from her grandmother, mother, and aunts. After moving to the United States, she built a career in hospitality and fine dining management, gaining a professional understanding of how kitchens work and menus come together. Throughout those years, she remained a passionate home cook, constantly introducing friends and colleagues to Ethiopian cuisine. The challenge she kept running into was that many traditional recipes require hours of slow cooking, making them difficult to fit into a modern working schedule. She spent years developing streamlined versions that preserve authentic flavor while being practical for everyday cooking. That work became her debut cookbook, “Enebla: Recipes from an Ethiopian Kitchen” (2022), published by Touchwood Editions. The book’s title means “let’s eat” in Amharic.
Start here
Enebla: Recipes from an Ethiopian Kitchen
Luladey Moges · 176 pages · 2022 · Easy
Themes: ethiopian cuisine, home cooking, accessible recipes, family traditions
Luladey Moges’s debut cookbook takes the recipes she grew up eating in Addis Ababa and makes them work for the reality of a busy life outside Ethiopia. With over 65 recipes, vivid photography, and personal family stories woven throughout, this is Ethiopian cooking made welcoming and practical.
Why Start Here
This is the only book Moges has published, and it represents years of work adapting traditional recipes that her family has cooked for generations. The key innovation is time: where many Ethiopian recipes traditionally require hours of slow cooking, Moges has found ways to achieve authentic results in an hour or less without sacrificing the depth of flavor that defines the cuisine.
The book covers the essential categories of Ethiopian cooking: aromatic wot stews built on slow-cooked onions and berbere, lentil dishes, vegetable preparations, and the condiments and spice blends that tie everything together. Moges writes with a personal touch, connecting recipes to memories of her grandmother’s kitchen and family gatherings in Addis Ababa.
What to Expect
A beautifully photographed 176-page hardcover that feels personal and inviting. The recipes are written for home cooks who may be completely new to Ethiopian flavors, with clear instructions and manageable ingredient lists. You will need some specialty items like berbere spice, teff flour, and niter kibbeh (spiced butter), but Moges guides you through sourcing and preparation. The tone throughout is warm and encouraging, like learning to cook from a friend who genuinely wants you to succeed.