Za'atar ( ; ar, زَعْتَر, ) is a culinary herb or family of herbs. It is also the name of a spice mixture that includes the herb along with toasted sesame seeds, dried sumac, often salt, as well as other

spices A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices are ...

. As a family of related

Middle Eastern The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europea ...

herbs, it contains plants from the

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

Origanum ''Origanum'' ( ) is a genus of herbaceous perennials and subshrubs in the family Lamiaceae, native to Europe, North Africa, and much of temperate Asia, where they are found in open or mountainous habitats. A few species also naturalized in s ...

'' (

oregano Oregano (, ; ''Origanum vulgare'') is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae. It was native to the Mediterranean region, but widely naturalised elsewhere in the temperate Northern Hemisphere. Oregano is a woody perennial ...

), ''

Calamintha ''Calamintha'' is a genus of plants that belongs to the family Lamiaceae. Commonly called the calamints, there are about eight species in the genus (around 30 before revisions in taxonomy) which is native to the northern temperate regions of Eu ...

'' ( basil thyme), ''

Thymus The thymus is a specialized primary lymphoid organ of the immune system. Within the thymus, thymus cell lymphocytes or '' T cells'' mature. T cells are critical to the adaptive immune system, where the body adapts to specific foreign invaders ...

'' (typically ''

Thymus vulgaris ''Thymus vulgaris'' (common thyme, German thyme, garden thyme or just thyme) is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae, native to southern Europe from the western Mediterranean to southern Italy. Growing to tall by wide, it ...

'', i.e.,

thyme Thyme () is the herb (dried aerial parts) of some members of the genus ''Thymus'' of aromatic perennial evergreen herbs in the mint family Lamiaceae. Thymes are relatives of the oregano genus '' Origanum'', with both plants being mostly indigen ...

), and '' Satureja'' (

savory Savory or Savoury may refer to: Common usage * Herbs of the genus ''Satureja'', particularly: ** Summer savory (''Satureja hortensis''), an annual herb, used to flavor food ** Winter savory (''Satureja montana''), a perennial herb, also used to ...

) plants.Allen, 2007
p. 237
. The name ''za'atar'' alone most properly applies to '' Origanum syriacum'', considered in biblical scholarship to be the ezov ( he, אזוב ) of the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Hyssopus officinalis ''Hyssopus officinalis'' or hyssop is a shrub in the Lamiaceae or mint family native to Southern Europe, the Middle East, and the region surrounding the Caspian Sea. Due to its purported properties as an antiseptic, cough reliever, and expec ...

''. Used in

Levantine cuisine Levantine cuisine is the traditional cuisine of the Levant. Perhaps the most distinctive aspect of Levantine cuisine is ''meze'' including ''tabbouleh'', ''hummus'' and ''baba ghanoush''. Levantine dishes * Arabic coffee (قهوة عر ...

, both the herb and spice mixture are popular throughout the Mediterranean region of the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

Etymology

According to Ignace J. Gelb, an

Akkadian language Akkadian (, Akkadian: )John Huehnergard & Christopher Woods, "Akkadian and Eblaite", ''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages''. Ed. Roger D. Woodard (2004, Cambridge) Pages 218-280 is an extinct East Semitic language t ...

word that can be read ''sarsar'' may refer to a spice plant. This word could be attested in the Syriac ''satre'', and Arabic ''za'atar'' (or ''sa'tar''), possibly the source of Latin ''Satureia''.Gelb, 1956, p. 74. Satureia ('' Satureja'') is a common name for '' Satureja thymbra'', a species of

whose other common and ethnic names include, "Persian za'atar", "za'atar rumi" (Roman hyssop), and "za'atar franji" (European hyssop).Allen, 2007
p. 230
Faculté de Médecine de Paris, 1818
p. clxxviii
In the Modern Hebrew language, ''za'atar'' is used as an Arabic

loanword A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because ...

. '' Thymus capitatus'' (also called ''Satureja capitata'') is a species of wild

found throughout the hills of the

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...

and

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

Middle East.Basan, 2007
p. 196
Thyme is said to be a plant "powerfully associated with Palestine", and the spice mixture za'atar is common fare there. ''

Thymbra spicata :''See Battle of Thymbra for the fight in Lydia between the Persians and the Lydians''. See Thymbra (plant) for the plant genus. Thymbra or Thymbre ( grc, Θύμβρα or Θύμβρη) was a town in the Troad, near Troy. The second of the six ...

'', a plant native to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

and to Palestine/Israel and has been cultivated in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

n, Palestinian, and Lebanese immigrants for use in their za'atar preparations since the 1940s. Another species identified as "wild za'atar" (Arabic:''za'atar barri'') is '' Origanum vulgare'', commonly known as European oregano, oregano, pot marjoram, wild marjoram, winter marjoram, or

wintersweet Wintersweet is a common name for several plants and may refer to: *'' Acokanthera oblongifolia'', a plant of southern Africa *'' Acokanthera oppositifolia'', a shrub of central and southern Africa *''Chimonanthus praecox'', a shrub of China *''Orig ...

. This species is also extremely common in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, and Palestine, and is used by peoples of the region to make one local variety of the spice mixture. Other

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

names for the herbs called za'atar in Arabic include '' Origanum syriacum'' (also known as

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...

hyssop ''Hyssopus officinalis'' or hyssop is a shrub in the Lamiaceae or mint family native to Southern Europe, the Middle East, and the region surrounding the Caspian Sea. Due to its purported properties as an antiseptic, cough reliever, and expect ...

, Arabic

and wild marjoram) and ''

Origanum majorana Marjoram (; ''Origanum majorana'') is a cold-sensitive perennial herb or undershrub with sweet pine and citrus flavours. In some Middle Eastern countries, marjoram is synonymous with oregano, and there the names sweet marjoram and knotted marj ...

'' (sweet marjoram).Seidemann, 2005, p. 365. Both oregano and marjoram are closely related

plants of the family

Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory ...

, so it is unsurprising that they could be used interchangeably.

Preparation as a condiment, and variations

Za'atar as a prepared condiment is traditionally made with ground ''origanum syriacum'' mixed with roasted sesame seeds, and

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

, though other spices such as sumac berries might also be added. In areas where ''origanum syriacum'' is not readily available,

marjoram Marjoram (; ''Origanum majorana'') is a cold-sensitive perennial herb or undershrub with sweet pine and citrus flavours. In some Middle Eastern countries, marjoram is synonymous with oregano, and there the names sweet marjoram and knotted marj ...

, or some combination thereof is used instead, and some commercial varieties also include roasted

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

. Traditionally, housewives throughout the

Fertile Crescent The Fertile Crescent ( ar, الهلال الخصيب) is a crescent-shaped region in the Middle East, spanning modern-day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and Jordan, together with the northern region of Kuwait, southeastern region of ...

, Iraq, and the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plat ...

made their own variations of za'atar.Heine, 2004
p. 69
This general practice is cited by Western observers of Middle Eastern and North African culinary cultures as one reason for their difficulties in determining the names of the different spices used. Written history lacks an early definitive reference to za'atar as a spice mixture, though unidentified terms in the Yale Babylonian Collection may be references to spice blends.Kaufman, 2006
p. 29
Some varieties may add

cumin Cumin ( or , or Article title
) (''Cuminum cyminum'') is a

coriander Coriander (;

fennel Fennel (''Foeniculum vulgare'') is a flowering plant species in the carrot family. It is a hardy, perennial herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. It is indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean but has become widely naturalized ...

seed.Roberts, 2000
p. 84
One distinctively Palestinian variation of za'atar includes

caraway Caraway, also known as meridian fennel and Persian cumin (''Carum carvi''), is a biennial plant in the family Apiaceae, native to western Asia, Europe, and North Africa. Etymology The etymology of "caraway" is unclear. Caraway has been ...

seeds, while a Lebanese variety contains more sumac and has a distinct dark red color.Nabhan, 2004
p. 88-89
Like ''

baharat ( ar, بَهَارَات; 'spices') is a spice mixture or blend used in Middle Eastern cuisines. The mixture of finely ground spices is often used to season lamb and mutton, fish, chicken, beef, and soups, and may also be used as a condimen ...

'' (a typically Egyptian spice mix of ground cinnamon, cloves, and allspice or rosebuds) and other spice mixtures popular in the

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

, za'atar is high in anti-oxidants. Za'atar, both the herb and the condiment, is popular in Algeria, Armenia, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, and Turkey.

History

There is evidence that a za'atar plant was known and used in Ancient Egypt, though its ancient name has yet to be determined with certainty.Manniche, 1989
p. 150
Remains of ''Thymbra spicata'', one species used in modern za'atar preparations, were found in the tomb of

Tutankhamun Tutankhamun (, egy, twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn), Egyptological pronunciation Tutankhamen () (), sometimes referred to as King Tut, was an Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule during the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty (ruled ...

, and according to

Dioscorides Pedanius Dioscorides ( grc-gre, Πεδάνιος Διοσκουρίδης, ; 40–90 AD), “the father of pharmacognosy”, was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of '' De materia medica'' (, On Medical Material) —a 5-vo ...

, this particular species was known to the Ancient Egyptians as ''saem''.Gardner, 2004
p. 326

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

mentions a herb ''maron'' as an ingredient of the ''Regale Unguentum'' ("Royal Perfume") used by the Parthian kings in the 1st century CE.This is usually rendered as English ''marum'' (defined by the

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a c ...

as ''

Thymus mastichina ''Thymus mastichina'' is a species in the family Lamiaceae. It is endemic to the central Iberian Peninsula in Spain and Portugal. The perennial herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding veg ...

'' or '' Teucrium marum''), but Dalby interprets this as '' Origanum syriacum'' and translates it as ''zatar''; Dalby, 2000
p. 189
Dalby, 2002
p. 108
In

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

tradition,

Saadiah Saʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon ( ar, سعيد بن يوسف الفيومي ''Saʻīd bin Yūsuf al-Fayyūmi''; he, סַעֲדְיָה בֶּן יוֹסֵף אַלְפַיּוּמִי גָּאוֹן ''Saʿăḏyāh ben Yōsēf al-Fayyūmī Gāʾōn''; ...

(d. 942), Ibn Ezra (d. circa 1164),

Maimonides Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...

(1135–1204) and

Obadiah ben Abraham Obadiah ben Abraham of Bertinoro ( he, ר׳ עוֹבַדְיָה בֵּן אַבְרָהָם מִבַּרְטֵנוּרָא; 1445 – 1515), commonly known as "The Bartenura", was a 15th-century Italian rabbi best known for his popular comm ...

(1465–1515) identified the '' ezov'' mentioned in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: אזוב,

Samaritan Hebrew Samaritan Hebrew () is a reading tradition used liturgically by the Samaritans for reading the Ancient Hebrew language of the Samaritan Pentateuch, in contrast to Tiberian Hebrew among the Jews. For the Samaritans, Ancient Hebrew ceased to be ...

: ࠀࠉࠆࠅࠁ) with the Arabic word "za'atar".Isser, 1976
p. 99
Ezov/za'atar is particularly associated with ritual purity ceremonies, such as preparing the ashes of the red heifer (Numbers 19:6) and handling bodily contaminations (Leviticus 14:4, 6, 51–52; Numbers 20:18). The Children of Israel are also said to have used a clump of ezov/za'atar stalks to daub the blood of the Paschal sacrifice on the doorposts of their houses before leaving bondage in Egypt (Exodus 12:22).

King David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

refers to the purifying powers of the herb in

Psalm The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...

51:7, "Cleanse me with ezov/za'atar and I shall be purified." Much later, ezov/za'atar appears in the 2nd century CE

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Tor ...

as an ingredient in food at that time in

Judea Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous Latin, and the modern-day name of the mountainous so ...

('Uktzin 2:2), while elsewhere in the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

there is mention of herbs ground into oil (a preparation called ''mish'cha t'china'' in

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated i ...

, משחא טחינא), but it is not specified whether this was like the za'atar mix known today. In the 12th century

described the use of the za'atar (צעתר, صعتر) he identified in contemporary cuisine, noting that "the ''ezov'' mentioned in the

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

is the ''ezov'' that the homeowners eat and season their stews with it." (

Mishneh Torah The ''Mishneh Torah'' ( he, מִשְׁנֵה תּוֹרָה, , repetition of the Torah), also known as ''Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka'' ( he, ספר יד החזקה, , book of the strong hand, label=none), is a code of Rabbinic Jewish religious law ('' ...

, Parah Adumah 3:2) Along with other spiced salts, za'atar has been used as a staple in

Arab cuisine Arab cuisine ( ar, المطبخ العربي) is the cuisine of the Arabs, defined as the various regional cuisines spanning the Arab world, from the Maghreb to the Fertile Crescent and the Arabian Peninsula. These cuisines are centuries old an ...

from

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

times to the present.Basan, 2007
p. 27
Za'atar has historical significance for Palestinians, some of whom see the presence of za'atar as the signifier of a Palestinian household. For

Palestinian refugees Palestinian refugees are citizens of Mandatory Palestine, and their descendants, who fled or were expelled from their country over the course of the 1947–49 Palestine war (1948 Palestinian exodus) and the Six-Day War ( 1967 Palestinian exodu ...

, plants and foods such as za'atar also serve as signifiers of the house, village, and region from which they hailed.Lien and Nerlich, 2004
pp. 148–149.
/ref> Once used mainly by Arab bakeries, za'atar is now a common herb in

Israeli cuisine Israeli cuisine ( he, המטבח הישראלי ) comprises both local dishes and dishes brought to Israel by Jews from the Diaspora. Since before the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, and particularly since the late 1970s, an Israel ...

. Some Israeli companies market za'atar commercially as "hyssop" or "holy hyssop". ''

Hyssopus officinalis ''Hyssopus officinalis'' or hyssop is a shrub in the Lamiaceae or mint family native to Southern Europe, the Middle East, and the region surrounding the Caspian Sea. Due to its purported properties as an antiseptic, cough reliever, and expec ...

'' is not found in the wild in Israel, but ''Origanum vulgare'' is extremely common.

Ecologists This is a list of notable ecologists. A-D * John Aber (USA) * Aziz Ab'Saber ( Brazil) * Charles Christopher Adams (USA) * Warder Clyde Allee (USA) * Herbert G. Andrewartha ( Australia) * Sarah Martha Baker ( UK) * Fakhri A. Bazzaz (USA) ...

found that wild za'atar was on the verge of extinction in Israel due to over-harvesting. In 1977, an Israeli law was passed declaring it a protected species. Violators are subject to fines. Some

Arab citizens of Israel The Arab citizens of Israel are the largest ethnic minority in the country. They comprise a hybrid community of Israeli citizens with a heritage of Palestinian citizenship, mixed religions (Muslim, Christian or Druze), bilingual in Arabic an ...

(who traditionally picked the wild herbs) have described the legislation as "almost anti-Arab". The ban on picking wild za'atar is also enforced in the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. In 2006, za'atar plants were confiscated at IDF checkpoints.

Culinary use

Za'atar is traditionally dried in the sun and mixed with salt, sesame seeds and sumac. It is commonly eaten with

pita Pita ( or ) or pitta (British English), is a family of yeast-leavened round flatbreads baked from wheat flour, common in the Mediterranean, Middle East, and neighboring areas. It includes the widely known version with an interior pocket, also ...

, which is dipped in olive oil and then za'atar. When the dried herb is moistened with

olive oil Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: ...

, the spread is known as ''za'atar-wu-zayt'' or ''zeit ou za'atar'' (''zeit'' or ''zayt'', meaning "oil" in Arabic and "olive" in Hebrew). This mixture spread on a dough base and baked as a bread, produces manakeesh bi zaatar.Carter et al., 2004
p. 68
In the Mediterranean region of Middle East, ka'ak (a soft sesame seed bread), is sold in bakeries and by street vendors with za'atar to dip into or with a za'atar filling.Cheshin et al., 2001
p. 14
Za'atar is used as a seasoning for meats and vegetables or sprinkled onto

hummus Hummus (, ; ar, حُمُّص, 'chickpeas'; full Arabic name: ''ḥummuṣ bi-ṭ-ṭaḥīna'' ar, حمص بالطحينة, 'chickpeas with tahini'), also spelled hommus or houmous, is a Middle Eastern dip, spread, or savory dish made f ...

. It is also eaten with

labneh Strained yogurt, Greek yogurt, yogurt cheese, sack yogurt, or kerned yogurt is yogurt that has been strained to remove most of its whey, resulting in a thicker consistency than normal unstrained yogurt, while still preserving the distinctive s ...

(

yogurt Yogurt (; , from tr, yoğurt, also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as ''yogurt cultures''. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bac ...

drained to make a tangy, creamy cheese), and bread and olive oil for breakfast, most commonly in Jordan, Palestine, Israel, Syria, and Lebanon, as well as other places in the Arab world.Marin and Deguilhem, 2002
p. 69
Ray, 2004
p. 154
The Lebanese speciality '' shanklish'', dry-cured balls of labneh, can be rolled in za'atar to form its outer coating.Savill and O'Meara, 2005
p. 273
The fresh za'atar herb is used in a number of dishes. Borek is a common bread pastry that can be stuffed with various ingredients, including za'atar. A salad made of fresh za'atar leaves (Arabic: ''salatet al-zaatar al-akhdar'') is also popular throughout the Levant.The Poetry Society, 2006
p. 5
The recipe is simple, consisting of fresh thyme, finely chopped onions, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and salt. A traditional beverage in Oman is za'atar steeped in boiling water to make a herbal tea.Marshall Cavendish, 2007
p. 309

Folk medicine

In Palestine, there is a folk belief that za'atar makes the mind alert, and children are sometimes encouraged to eat za'atar at breakfast before school.Swedenburg, 2003
p. 59

(Rambam), a medieval

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...

and physician who lived in Spain, Morocco, and Egypt, prescribed za'atar for its health advancing properties in the 12th century.Marks, 2010
p. 630
Since ancient times, people in the Mediterranean region of Middle East have thought za'atar could be used to reduce and eliminate internal parasites.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

* {{portal bar, Food Herb and spice mixtures Arab cuisine Israeli cuisine Jordanian cuisine Lebanese cuisine Levantine cuisine Palestinian cuisine Syrian cuisine Turkish cuisine Condiments