Spicy father's day to... Me?!?!

So apparently my father and sister conspired to buy me father's day presents. Even though I'm not a father. Hey, gift horse, mouth, whatever... Spicy dukkah and harissa. Good times!

Za'atar - Not A Lovecraftian Demon

Forgive the lack of new content lately. I've been busy saving the universe. Well that and I've moved into a new apartment. Of course I took my whole spice cabinet with me and unpacking it served as inspiration to write a little bit more.

Sometimes, being spice obsessed has its drawbacks. For example, I've gotten some very odd looks from people after being a little bit too comfortable with flinging around exotic spice names. Za'atar is about as exotic as spice names come. It sounds like some sort of magic spell or perhaps a creature from a bad science fiction movie and here I am just flinging it around like everyone knows what I'm talking about. So, what could it be? What could such a mysterious word possibly mean?

Thyme. It means thyme.

Yes, za'atar is just the Arabic name for thyme. It can also be spelled zahtar, zaatar, zatar or satar but apostrophes make it 30% more exotic so that's the one we use. Somehow this name got applied to a spice blend consisting of the titular thyme, sumac, salt, sesame seeds and whatever else. As with all blends, the recipe varies greatly between regions, families, people and time of year so no two mixes will taste the same. Just throw a bunch of stuff into a bowl and call it za'atar and nobody will be able to dispute it.

Common throughout the entire Levant, this seasoning is used in every imaginable way. It is sprinkled as a condiment, baked into bread, pounded into a paste with oil and decoratively thrown on top of hummus. The sumac gives it a tangy, almost citrusy flavor similar to raisins. It gives food a distinct twist that contrasts nicely with the earthy flavors of middle eastern food.

My favorite use for za'atar is in the Israeli dish shakshukah which was introduced to me by my friend Steven. He tells me it's what you make when you need to use up a lot of produce since you can put any vegetable in it. Here's my personal take on it.

If you're into middle eastern cooking, za'atar is a must. Even if you get some sort of whitewashed Martha Stewart recipe that only uses ingredients Americans are readily familiar with, add some za'atar and let your dish take on new dimensions.

OK, that was fun, now back to universe saving.