[Sca-cooks] looking for za'atar

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

From: Vittoria Aureli <phoenissa at netscape.net>

>From: lilinah at earthlink.net
>  >In my experience, it's rather difficult to find pure zaatar. What i
>  >most often find in shops is the Levantine blend of zaatar herb,
>  >sesame seeds, sumac, and salt. Tasty if you dip some flat bread in
>  >olive oil and then in the zaatar.
>
>Actually, they way you're supposed to eat zaatar is by mixing the spice mix
>with olive oil - then you spread it on bread.  Traditionally the oil-and-herb
>it's put onto a vaguely pizza-like bread round and baked - this is called
>"manoushi" (no clue as to the spelling) and it's fabulous.

This culinary delight is for sale right here in River City, err, i
mean, the East Bay. Heck, they're even selling it at "Whole Foods",
no doubt for a grossly inflated price. Anyone else on the list who
lives where there is a Levantine community might well be able to find
it in a Near Eastern shop near them, since a local bakery could well
be making it.

>You can also
>spread it on pita bread - it is great as a sandwich with fresh tomatoes and
>cucumbers.  You can also spread it on bread with labneh ( a sort of cream
>cheese made from yogurt).  But in all of these cases, you mix it with oil
>first :-)

Well, you should know, you're one of my primary informants :-) But
i've was told by someone else Lebanese to dip the bread in olive oil
then in zaatar. Regional variations?

>  >I often bring it to events to have
>  >at lunch, along with some homemade dukkah, another
>  >similar-but-different blend from Egypt (hazelnuts, sesame seeds,
>  >coriander, cumin, pepper, salt).
>
>Oooh, I've never heard of this before - sounds good!  Where do you find it?

It's homemade. I got the recipe i used from Claudia Roden's book on
Middle Eastern Food, the old one. And boy is my copy OLD - it's
around 25 years old and the pages are turning brown...

>  >Since it's real hard to find zaatar by itself, i asked a friend of
>  >mine of Lebanese origin about it. She says that she was told that
>  >"Greek oregano" is either zaatar or very close to it. I found "Greek
>  >oregano" in a shop around here (San Francisco East Bay) recently. It
>  >isn't the regular oregano one finds, which is, IIRC, "Mexican
>  >oregano" - Greek oregano has a nicer and less coarse flavor.
>
>Greek oregano, iirc, has long and thin leaves, not like the ergular Mexican
>  (or Italian?) which has round, shorter leaves.

Well, this is my secret source speaking. Vittoria is the friend who
told me about "Greek Oregano". I figure i'd better come clean here in
public :-)

>I am lucky enough to have a
>stash of it (which we brought from Lebanon on our last trip there) in my
>pantry.  It's very good stuff ;)  Mistress Kay and Anahita, if you are
>interested in sampling some, let me know and I'd be happy to share. :-)

Ooh, ooh. Sure, i want some of the REAL thing. I guess the first
one's free, kid...

Anahita