Zahtar is one of the most popular traditional Lebanese dishes. I could eat it regularly as a meal. As a matter of fact, a Lebanese breakfast is not breakfast without zahtar dip and pita bread. In Lebanon, zahtar is a primary staple. My family was never without it. My mom always bought a 20-pound bag, which would last for months.
Zahtar is a combination of ground dried thyme, marjoram, sumac, toasted sesame seeds, oregano, and salt. According to Mama, it never expired. She always bought it ready-mixed from the farmers in southern Lebanon. Mama made a zahtar paste by pouring three tablespoons of the zahtar herbs in a bowl and then adding three large tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, all of which she mixed together. The paste was spread inside a pita bread pocket to make a zahtar sandwich. During wartime, these sandwiches were our only meals. We felt like royalty eating our zahtar sandwiches, as many people ate bread alone due to financial struggles or because they didn’t create a stockpile of the precious herbs like Mama. My mama always planned ahead and made sure we had zahtar in the house at all times. Zahtar was not the only essential food, on hand, for our family. Mama also kept at least five gallons of olive oil stored under the black antique kitchen table in the event war broke out. I will never forget that table; it was an inept dancer. Any time someone touched it, the table rocked haphazardly back and forth and to the left and right. It was a miracle that table never broke down into pieces given the shape it was in. Flour was the third basic food item in our household. When it was available, Mama had a huge 50-pound sack of flour that she stashed, along with an ample bag of zahtar, behind our ancient living room sofa. Having these three crucial ingredients, kept us all from going hungry in times of war.
Mama baked bread almost daily to feed me, my siblings, and Dad. Eating her fresh homemade pita bread by itself was delicious, but eating it with zahtar during wartime was a privilege. There were other dishes my mom made using zahtar. One of the most well-known is called manakeesh, which requires dough, zahtar, and extra virgin olive oil. It was a treat watching Mama in our kitchen creating this specialty. Mama kneeled on the kitchen floor as she kneaded the dough inside a large pan into the shape of a circle; the size of a mini-pizza. She spread the zahtar paste on top of the dough, and baked the dough with the paste for a few minutes. The smell escaping from the oven is a priceless memory, and as a child made me feel peaceful, almost tranquilized. It made me forget war, if only briefly. Sometimes my mom made a big batch of manakeesh. She wrapped the loaves inside a plastic sheet, and covered the sheet with a heavy blanket to keep the manakeesh fresh and soft for days. I felt very special when Mama made manakeesh; she didn’t make it regularly like zahtar sandwiches, since manakeesh took more time and effort. So, when she made it, I felt like a prince. I remember Mama telling me and my siblings, “You are not a true Lebanese unless you love manakeesh”. And, now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I often make manakeesh for my American wife, and tell her “You wouldn’t be married to a Lebanese man unless you love manakeesh.”
Note: You can buy zahtar from any Middle Eastern/Lebanese store, or order it online. The extra virgin olive oil can be found in many grocery stores.