SC - za'atar
lilinah at earthlink.net
lilinah at earthlink.net
Mon May 1 21:52:19 PDT 2000
MORE on za'atar...
from Paula Wolfert's "Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean"
- ----- (begin quotes) -----
p. 61
ZA'ATAR PIE
"The taste of a za'atar mixture can be herbal, or nutty, or toasty.
In the Middle Easter there are shops where za'atar mix is the only
item sold. There are secret blends, some of which are quite
wonderful. I purchased one in Aleppo but was never able to duplicate
it; you can buy blends at most Middle Eastern markets.
"Israeli" is a pale green blend of pungent herbs that includes the
biblical hyssop, along with toasted sesame seeds and sumac. The
"Syrian" blend, the color or sand, has a decidedly toastey flavor.
The "Jordanian" blend is dark green and very herbal, with some
turmeric. All three blends can be purchased by mail order..."
p. 399:
Mail order for Dried Plain Za'atar: Shallah's Middle Eastern Importing Company
Mail Order for Israeli Za'atar Blend: Adriana's Bazaar
Mail Order for Jordanian and Syrian Blends: Kalustyan, Oriental
Pastry and Grocery; and Shallah's Middle Eastern Importing Company
p. 406:
Adriana's Bazaar, 317 W. 107 Street, New York, NY 10025. (212) 877-5757
...
Kalustyan, 123 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10016. (212) 685-3451
...
Oriental Pastry and Grocery, 170-172 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
11201. (718) 875-7687
...
p. 407
Shallah's Middle Eastern Importing Company, 290 White Street,
Danbury, CT 06810. (203) 743-4181
- ----- (end quotes) -----
This may help explain some of the varieties in what those of us who
have za'atar have, why recipes differ, and allow the scientific to
purchase some for comparison purpose.
- ---------------------
And in the interest of cooks:
From "A Book of Middle Eastern Food" by Claudia Roden
- ----- (begin quote) ------
p. 51
Dukkah
This is another dearly loved and old Egyptian specialty. It is a
loose mixture of nuts and spices in a dry, crushed but not powdered
from, usually eaten with bread dipped in olive oil. In Egypt it is
served at breakfast time, as an appetizer, or as a snack in the
evening. It is a very personal and individual mixture which varies
from one family to another. Here... [is] ..my mother's...
4 cups sesame seed
2 cups coriander seed
1/4 lb. (1 cup) hazelnuts
1 cup ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste - try 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Roast or broil the ingredients separately. Pound them together until
they are finely crushed but not pulverized. The crushing can be done
in a meat grinder or an electric blender. In the last case run it for
a very short time only, as otherwise the oil from the too finely
ground seeds and nuts will form a paste with the pulverized
ingredients. Dukkah should always be a crushed dry mixture, and
definitely not a paste.
The quantities above make a good deal of dukkah, but it can be stored
indefinitely in covered jars.
- ----- (end quote) -----
My Notes:
Well, without ever having tasted it, i was not about to make nearly a
quart of the stuff, so i made 1/4 of the recipe, that's still a whole
cup - actually, i think it takes up more room once it's ground.
1 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup whole coriander seeds
1/4 cup whole hazelnuts
1/4 cup ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp white pepper
I toasted everything *separately* in a clean cast iron pan (do NOT
add oil) on the stove (i have gas, but it's a 1930's cast iron stove
- - enameled a pale cheery yellow and minty-fresh green on the front -
so it really holds heat). This meant a fair amount of stirring and
regulating the heat, but it kept the seeds and nuts from burning. As
each ingredient was done, i tossed it into a large ceramic bowl with
the others.
Then i ground them together in my blender - i have an old one with
the pulse function, so i could give a burst of grinding, then check
the texture and mix, and pulse some more.
I would recommend mixing only the sesame, coriander, and cumin
together, until only some of the sesame seeds are crushed - if
they're ground too find, they will make an oily paste. I didn't dump
it all in at once either, but did about 1/3 or 1/4 at a time - when i
was satisfied i dumped the contents of the jar into a bowl, and added
more stuff until i had done it all in about 3 or 4 shifts
Then do the hazelnuts separately last and when they are in nice
crushed chunks, stir them by hand into the blend in the bowl. I say
this because i had trouble trying to grind everything together, due i
guess to the difference in size between the hazelnuts and the other
ingredients. I fished the hazelnuts out, ground them separately to a
certain size a bit bigger than an unground sesame seed, then added
them back into the mix.
I also added more salt and pepper to taste, didn't measure so i don't
know how much more than the quantities listed in my notes. It isn't
salty tasting, just not so... mmm... flat. For my own personal taste,
i would like more hazelnuts next time.
I store it in a screw-top glass jar that i take to events.
Yes, i don't know if it's period, but it's a tasty with flat bread,
feta cheese, oil-cured Moroccan olives, and fresh fruit for a quick
lunch. I put out a small bowl of *very good quality* olive oil to dip
the bread in first (it costs more than generic stuff but the flavor
is worth it). I invite anyone who doesn't have lunch to help
themselves. I also sometimes make a salad of cucumber, mint, walnuts,
salt, and garlic in yogurt to go with the other stuff.
Anahita al-shazhiyya
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