SC - za'atar-OOP

[LrdRas@aol.com]

>>  Interesting that you all seem to say that zahatar/za'atar is sumac.
>>  Everyone here says it's hyssop (and that the other ingredients in the
made
>>  up stuff are chiefly sesame seeds - what else - and salt).  Hmm.  This
needs
>>  some investigating.  Will try to ask further at this end.
>>
>>  Cairistiona >>
>
>Za'atar is an herb, in the marjoram/oregano family. Za'atar is NOT sumac.
>
>What is sold commercially is often blended with sumac and lightly
>toasted sesame seeds, but the base of the za'atar blend is za'atar
>herb.


Miriam Al Hashimi, in Traditional Arabic Cooking, and Anissa Helou, in
Lebanese Cuisine, say za´atar is thyme, but that the term is usually used to
refer to a blend of spice, containing thyme, wild marjoram, sesame seeds and
sumac. Al Hashimis recipe is:

1 part thyme
1/2 part wild marjoram
1/4 part roasted sesame seeds
1/8 part sumac

The Oxford Companion to Food says: "... the Arabic name for wild thyme,
commonly denotes a mixture of that herb with sumac, usually but not always
with toasted sesame seeds. Another ingredient can be the ground seeds of
Pistacia terebinthus, a relation of mastic ... Tucker and Maciarello (1994)
have drawn attention to the occurence of zaatar as part of the names of
several kinds of hyssop, thus:
Za´atar rumi or franji (Roman or European hyssop), Satureja thymbra;
Za´atar hommar or sahrawi (donkey or desert hyssop), Thymbra spicata;
Za´atar farsi (Persian hyssop), Thymbra capitata"

Claudia Roden says in The Book of Jewish Food that zahtar is a mixture of
wild thyme, roasted sesame seeds, sumac and salt.

The rest of my Middle Eastern books are at my workplace but I´ll look
tomorrow and see if they can shed any further light on this.