Thyme Zaatar
Photo: flickr user DesheBoard
About
A Middle Eastern mixture of herbs and spices used as a condiment. The name of the condiment shares the Arabic name of the herb used as the main ingredient which is Thyme. Usually includes ingredients such as sumac, thyme leaves, white sesame seeds and salt.
The best Zaatar comes from Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon. Many farmers and locals make their own Zaatar mix. Zaatar is eaten by dipping pita bread or flat bread in olive oil and then dipped in Zaatar. A very famous breakfast food in the Levant is Man'ooshet Zaatar, the Zaatar is mixed with olive oil on a flat dough, like pizza, and then baked in the oven. This is considered "breakfast to go". Usually fresh mint, tomatoes and cucumber pickles are added to the Zaatar pizza and rolled in half.