No problem, Cathy.
I left out my recipe for Baharat, which is as essential to Mid-Eastern cookery as Za'taar. Here it is:
Baharat
2 tbls black peppercorns
1 tbls coriander seeds
1 tbls broken cinnamon stick
1 tbls cumin seeds
1/2 tbls cloves
1/2 tbls cardamom seeds
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tbls paprika
Grind the first six ingredients in a spice mill until reaching a powder. Mix in the nutmeg and paprika. Store in an airtight container.
Speaking of za'taar, I buy it pre-mixed. Been trying to find a recipe that gives the proportions of sumac, sesame seed, and thyme, but haven't, yet. My best guess would be about a quarter cup of the thyme to two tablespoons each of sumac and sesame, all ground together.
A word about the "thyme" used in za'taar. It is a wild thyme, similar to oregano, that grows all over the Meditarranean basin. In Arabic that wild thyme is za'taar. So the word applies to both the herb and the the spice mixture.
However, za'taar has been mistranslated as "hyssop." In fact, the hyssop of the bible (such as the bunches of hyssop used by the Hebrews to mark their doorposts with lamb's blood) is actually wild thyme, not the plant we know as hyssop.
|