Za'atar

The sumac is nearly a third of the blend, which is what makes the Lebanese version sour rather than merely herbal.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 60 g dried wild thyme or oregano leaves
• 50 g sumac
• 60 g sesame seeds
• 1½ teaspoons salt

Method

1. THE SUMAC IS NEARLY A THIRD OF THE BLEND, which is what makes this sour rather than merely herbal. Fifty grams against sixty of herb and sixty of sesame. Blends made elsewhere lean on caraway or on more thyme and use sumac as a colouring; here it is a principal ingredient and the finished blend should taste distinctly tart on a wet fingertip. A teaspoon of sumac in a jar of herbs gives something that tastes of dried oregano, which is not the same thing at all.
2. THE SESAME IS TOASTED SEPARATELY AND COOLED BEFORE IT GOES IN. Dry pan, moving constantly, four or five minutes until golden and popping, then tipped straight out onto a cold plate. Toasted with the herbs they scorch; left to cool in the hot pan they keep darkening; and added warm to the blend they release oil that clumps the whole jar within a day.
3. THE HERB IS DRIED AND IS NOT GROUND TO POWDER. Rubbed between the palms or pulsed two or three times, so it stays as small flakes. Powdered, it loses its aroma fast and the blend goes dull and dusty; in flakes it keeps for months.
4. NOTHING IS ADDED THAT CONTAINS MOISTURE. No fresh herbs, no oil, no citrus zest. This is a dry store-cupboard blend and any moisture at all will clump it and then spoil it.
5. THE SALT IS A TEASPOON AND A HALF AND GOES IN THE BLEND. It is not a seasoning to add later: the blend is used by the spoonful on bread and in oil, and an unsalted one tastes flat however much is used.
6. IT IS MIXED BY HAND AND NOT IN A MACHINE. Everything turned together in a bowl with the fingers. A processor breaks the sesame and the oil it releases binds the blend into a paste.
7. The sesame seeds DRY-TOASTED in a pan, moving constantly, 4 to 5 MINUTES until golden and popping.
8. Tipped STRAIGHT OUT onto a cold plate and COOLED COMPLETELY.
9. The dried herb RUBBED BETWEEN THE PALMS into small flakes. Not powdered.
10. The herb, sumac, cooled sesame and salt turned together BY HAND in a bowl.
11. TESTED on a wet fingertip: it should taste clearly TART as well as herbal. If it tastes only of oregano, there is not enough sumac.
12. Stored in a sealed jar away from light. Keeps 4 months.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Lebanon · All recipes