Comments on: Meet Jerusalem zaatar

By: omer taze

omer taze — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 19:02:34 +0000

we! in Antakya call it also ‘za’atar’ writing it ‘zahter’ goes great with pomegranate molases
fresh onion, sjalot fine chopped, flat parsley, a good olive oil and of course s&p and maybe
if you prefer chili flakes

By: Liz

Liz — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 22:30:45 +0000

Thanks, Victoria. If you saw my response to Mark, it seems like Turkish, Arabic and Hebrew all refer to 5 or 6 different species as zaatar.

BTW your blog is lovely. It’s so interesting to see how food varies from location to location, and how different ingredients play different roles.

By: Victoria Challalncin

Victoria Challalncin — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 12:40:05 +0000

I was referring to the species of plant. It is often said that it it thyme, and not hyssop. I’ve read a lot of misinformation and just appreciated the photos. I wrote about anise hyssop, but haven’t seen this one.

By: Liz

Liz — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:47:39 +0000

Cool, Sarah, what did you do with it?

By: Liz

Liz — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:46:40 +0000

Hi Mark, what you’re saying goes along with Sarah’s comment, since it seems that summer savory is used in Bulgarian cooking, and a friend of mine with me at the shook thought this might be a kind of savory. Though savory has a different scientific name — Satureja hortensis — than what I think matches this plant. It seems that here in the Middle East, we call at least 5 different plants zaater. http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Satu_hor.html

By: Liz

Liz — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:38:32 +0000

Thanks Victoria, though I’m intrigued to know which controversy you’re referring to I didn’t even touch on political issues, since over here, everything is political.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 09:18:05 +0000

Just bought this herb in Ramle souk. None of the Arab vendors or Arab ladies I asked knew what it was, not even the one who sold it to me since he was a substitute. Since there is a sizable Bulgarian population in Ramle, I think that they probably use the herb.

By: Faye Levy

Faye Levy — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 07:31:09 +0000

Following up on Sarah’s comment, we had what was called “za’atar salad” in Antakya, Turkey, and the leaves looked just like that. However, the season was August so it may have been something different.

By: MarkC

MarkC — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 14:33:45 +0000

I’ve seen this and other rarities (like chervil) in the Netanya market.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 11:51:57 +0000

Great find. Its a popular herb used in Bulgarian cooking. What souk did you find it in? Perhaps near an area where Bulgarian immigrants live?