Now in Ethiopian culture there are no plates, just a round flat pancake called injera, flat on one side and spongy on the other, that the hot spicy stew is poured on. The waks that are traditionally used to cook injera are typically round; one pours the batter in a spiral beginning in the center in one continuous pour and puts a cover on (no flipping something that is two feet in diameter). Then one consumes the plat, bit by bit, as one tears off a piece of injera and uses it to capture a choice tidbit. No utensils, no plates to wash!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble