There is a small Lebanese population in southeastern Massachusetts. Two Lebanese bakeries in Fall River, MA -- Sam's and Mario's -- make a variant of this called "minich". Worth a short detour off I-195 if you're en route to Cape Cod.
He didn’t even mention Palestinian za’atar, just the Israelis who got it from the Palestinians. (Yes, they eat it too, but don’t you think he should at least mention the source?)
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@Muna I don't see why you need to inject politics into a food column - but - for your information about 50% of Jewish Israelis come from Arab countries where they lived for hundreds of years. Do not assume that they got za'atar from the Palestinians.
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@ MSL - NY New York, NY
The Palestinian Arabs and Israeli Jews are descendants of the Canaanite Semites. The local cuisines have evolved under the influence of religion, superstition, and regionally variable availability of land and aquatic food products.
It's also available all day long at Manousheh in Greenwich Village.
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Your apostrophe is in the wrong place, it's man'oush. It's not Lebanese but Levantine (Shaami) as readily available in Jordan and Syria as Beirut. It's not street food but bought in the morning from bakeries, maybe in paris streets, but not the ME. Za'atar means thyme strictly speaking and it's always there. Jordanians/ Palestinians put more sumaq than the Lebanese who generally use thyme and seseme seeds only. Never seen it made on a saj, always made in a very hot fired oven along with pita bread. The za'atar topping is added before baking. Hard to replicate at home given the heat of bakery ovens gives the man'oush a delicious deep brown topping.
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Thanks for the article!
By "Israeli" za'atar you mean "Palestinian" za'atar?
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@Seraj Assi - Not necessarily. A large proportion of Israeli Jews emigrated from Arab countries where they had lived for hundreds of years.
Just finished Anthony Shadid’s book “House of Stone” — it left me hankering for a taste of Lebanon. This article/recipe is perfect timing. The Times seems to be good @ timing. Thank you.
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@ C. S. USA
Your comment made me think of restaurants, to be named after great writers and serving their favorite foods. In such places, a guest could (re)read the author's masterpieces, while savoring his beloved dishes.
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Which street market? Aligre? I've been looking for them here in Paris!
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@ak
More probably the market av Pres Wilson near Trocadéro, there are Lebanese stands serving these delicious manakesh !
@ak Two stands at the Saturday market on Avenue de Saxe, one with a saj, sell versions of the flatbread.
please allow subscribers to view the recipe associated with this new article
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Kudos to Mr. Tanis for opening this new culinary frontier to the nation of hamburger-eaters.
There is a long association of France with Lebanon, formerly part of Syria, since the times of the Crusades, that peaked in the French national anthem of Napoleon III, "Leaving for Syria".
Another specialty of the East Mediterranean littoral is the art of grilling fish, that I never encountered in the Occident.
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