La Massawina e i Milanessi: Eritrean-Italian in Valencia

When I was a student in the U.S., the best Indian food in the Cleveland-Akron area was served at an upscale place called The Mad Greek. They offered Greek and Indian dishes side by side, and we used to joke that the name suited them: Who had ever heard of Greek and Indian food coming together on the same menu? It turned out the owners were a Greek-Indian couple. So when I found a restaurant in Valencia serving Italian pizza alongside Eritrean injera, it didn’t strike me as odd, but I was curious. How did this combination come to be?

How il Milanessi met la Massawina and came to Valencia

Luigi grew up in Milan, raised on the flavors of Northern Italy. When he heard stories of excellent fishing on the Red Sea coast, he felt a pull he could not ignore. He left the familiar streets of Milan for Massawa in Eritrea, drawn by promises of clear water and the thrill of fish tugging at his line. There he found more than fish: On his very first evening, he met Hiwet Che. Hiwet Che means “life” in Tigrinya, and she soon became Luigi’s life. After five years together in Eritrea, circumstances brought Luigi and Hiwet Che back to Italy, and then on to Spain, where they settled in Valencia with their son Lorenzo and Luigi’s mother.

A menu of cheeky Italian pizza and classic Eritrean dishes

Having worked for years as a chef in Italy, Luigi could think of no better way to make a living than to open a restaurant. Thus La Massawina e i Milanesi was born. The menu features thin-crust pizzas with roguish names: La Imbrogliona (the cheater); La Sborrona (the show-off); La Golosa (the greedy one), and, naturally, La Luigi and La Milanese. If the pizza names are tempting, save some space for the Eritrean offerings: alicja nai begghe (lamb stew), zighini (spicy red beef stew), doro wat (chicken stew), shiro (chickpea stew), azifa (lentil salad).

The restaurant is a quintessential family-run kitchen – often with friends pitching in. Hiwet Che stirs a pot of doro wat or fries sambusas while her son Lorenzo tosses pizza, when he’s not studying computer engineering at the University of Valencia. Luigi is usually to be found trading jokes with patrons over a generous glass of wine.

Join Pont de Valencia for a special Eritrean menu

I enjoyed my meal at La Massawina so much that I wanted to invite Pont de Valencia readers to try this charming place for themselves. To join in Luigi’s cheeky banter and taste Hiwet Che’s delectable cooking. It sparked an idea: Why not have a social meal like this every month to introduce readers to new places?

Next week, we’ll be trying this idea out. Here are the details

• Where: La Massawina e i Milanesi,
• When: Thursday, April 16 at 1:30pm
• Menu: Vegetarian: €22; Non-vegetarian: €24. Includes sambusa (appetizer) and a selection of classic Eritrean dishes served over injera bread. (Drinks and dessert available separately.)

If you’d like to join, fill out this form and send a €5 bizum to secure your place (details in form). https://forms.gle/eKN76AmYfQ82UJhr8

And if you can’t make it this time, don’t worry. This is just the beginning!