Recipes
from the Holy Land
The
teachers' office at the Terra Sancta School in Beit Hanina was always
a delicious place to enter. One of my most favorite discoveries
was zatar, which means "thyme" in Arabic. It's a spicy blend of
a variety of herbs that could include thyme, sesame, sumac, cumin,
coriander, salt, oregano, and majoram. It's made into a dip or
spread over fresh pita bread. I completely planned to photograph
it the following day, but they never had any more za'atar in that room
during my stay.
There
are recipes for za'atar online, but I could not be bothered with that
when you can already purchase it ready-made. I almost stocked up
on it while in Jerusalem, but I wasn't sure about bringing any kind of
food products home through customs. I had no idea if I could
find the herbal blend in Ohio. Much to my surprise, I found it
at my local bank. One of my favorite bank employees is
Palestinian. She brought me a stash after I raved about it.
You
can use regular pita bread, if you must, but Palestinian pita is so
much better. I was advised to go to Lavash
Café and Bakery in Columbus to
get the right kind of bread. Palestinian pita bread is much
softer and fluffier than the regular flat pita bread that I am used to
eating. Of course, I talked to the person behind the
counter. I told her about my discovery of za'atar and my murals
in the Holy Land. She told me there is no right way to mix the
zatar herbs with olive oil; it's all delicious. However, she
said that I really should get some labneh at the Mediterranean
Food Imports just down the street. Another great
discovery! This market was like walking into a spice shop back
in the Middle East.
Za'atar
Beit Hanina -- as well as Columbus, Ohio
Beit Hanina -- as well as Columbus, Ohio
Ingredients:
| 1
package of za'atar olive oil 1 package of Palestinian pita bread |
1
container of labneh cheese
1 package of Palestinian pita bread |
This is so delicious and easy to prepare. First, slather on your desired amount of labneh cheese onto your fresh pita bread. Labneh is a yogurt cheese, similar to cream cheese or sour cream, and traditionally made from goat's milk. I used a proportion of one tablespoon of za'atar herbs with one tablespoon on olive oil. You may want more or less olive oil. It's your call. Mix it up and spread that on top of the labneh. It's that simple, but it is a taste that takes me back to the Holy Land and only the best memories . . . now also in Columbus, Ohio.