SC - za'atar

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

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