“So, what kind of lunch did you make for us today?”
I took out the rice balls and containers from my tote bag that contained the fried chicken, egg cake, and grilled sausages.
“I guess this is our picnic menu. I loved to take this menu on a picnic at the park with my family on weekends.”
“Wow, that looks so tasty. What is this rolled up rice? What’s this black thing?”
“The black thing is the dried seaweed. You take a seaweed and flatten it out like a sheet of paper, a typical food in Japan. You eat the round rice or onigiri with your hands but as rice is sticky, you wrap this with nori and eat it.”
Asha quickly took to the rice balls and took a bite.
“Wow! It’s tasty. Ooh, there’s something inside!”
“Yes, you put your favorite item inside these rice balls. Today, I put umeboshi, pickled plums.”
“I know umeboshi! My Japanese friend told me about it before. It’s sour but I love it.”
Asha munched through the onigiri like a little kid.
“These deli menus are also my mom’s. What do you think?”
“I love this fried chicken. The egg is sweet and yummy. I’ve never seen sausages stir-fried with ketchup! They are all so good.”
She stretched out her legs, looking all relaxed and just kept saying, “This is so fun!” and “I’m so happy!”
“Here, now, try my boxed lunch,” she said as she pulled out container after container from her brown paper bag.
“This is a thin bread called injera. We put out a curry-like dish called wat and eat. See you eat this like an onigiri, with your hands.”
I tore a bite-size piece of injera and placed a wat of meat and vegetable and had a bite.
“Ooh, this is tasty, it’s like curry. So injera is like a sour bread. I like the taste. Did you bake this yourself?”
“I did. It’s easy to make one. Here, I brought many types of wat so try them.”
Asha tore pieces of injera for me and placed different wats and placed them on my plate. The one with stewed beans and meat, the one with vegetable salad… I really had fun with all these kinds of wat.
“So, this is what you would take on a picnic in Ethiopia?”
“Yeah, come to think of it, wat is like the stuffing inside an onigiri. And we finish up with coffee. The first cup we enjoy as is, the second cup, with sugar, and the third with butter and spice. Now, I’ll pour you a cup. My dad makes the best coffee. It’s a family tradition.”
Asha sat next to me, put her hands on my knees, and kept talking.
“You really look good in shorts. My dad would wear shorts all year long.”
Suddenly, she rolled over and put her head on my lap.
“This is Ethiopian style. Married or not, couples do this.”
I caressed her lovely curly hair.
She closed her eyes and relaxed.
