Za'atar Is a Herb, a Blend and an Argument About Land

Ask for za'atar in a Levantine market and the answer depends on which shelf the seller reaches for. One holds a bundle of dried grey-green leaves. The other holds a coarse, brick-flecked mixture with sesame seeds through it. Both are za'atar, correctly, and this is the source of nearly every confusion in English-language recipes.

The word is Arabic for a family of wild hillside herbs, the most important of which is Origanum syriacum, sometimes called Syrian oregano or biblical hyssop. It is also the name of the blend built on that herb.

A recipe calling for a teaspoon of za'atar means the blend. A recipe calling for a handful of fresh za'atar means the plant. If a jar you bought tastes of very little, the odds are it contains neither in useful quantity.

What is actually in the blend

Three things define it, as the standard description sets out: the dried herb, sesame seeds and sumac, usually with salt.

The herb carries the savoury, faintly medicinal backbone. Toasted sesame gives fat, nuttiness and body. Sumac, the ground dried berry of a Mediterranean shrub, provides a sharp fruity sourness that does the job lemon would do if you could put lemon in a jar.

Beyond that it opens up. Some blends carry cumin, coriander seed, aniseed, caraway or dried oregano and marjoram. Household proportions vary as much as household bread recipes do.

The catch is that Origanum syriacum is not widely exported, so most commercial za'atar sold outside the region substitutes ordinary dried thyme, oregano or a mix of both. That is a legitimate adaptation rather than a fake, but it does taste different, and it is why a jar bought in the Levant rarely tastes like a jar bought in a European supermarket.

How the regions differ

The proportions are a regional signature and people are not casual about them.

Lebanese blends lean sour and dark, heavy on sumac, often with a deep red-brown cast. Palestinian blends tend to be greener and more herb-forward, frequently with caraway. Syrian versions are commonly the most sesame-rich. Jordanian blends often sit closest to plain herb and sumac with little else.

None of these is the correct one. They are different answers to the same question and every family will tell you theirs is standard.

The thing that is actually wrong with your jar

Za'atar goes stale faster than almost any other spice mixture in the cupboard, and the sesame is why. Sesame seeds are around half fat, and that fat oxidises. A blend more than six months old does not merely fade, it turns faintly rancid, with a flat cardboard note underneath.

Buy small quantities. Keep it sealed, dark and cool. If it smells of nothing when you open the jar, it will taste of nothing on the bread, and no amount of good olive oil will bring it back.

Ingredients

Makes about 150 g, roughly a medium jar. 10 minutes.

• 6 tablespoons dried thyme, or Origanum syriacum if you can get it
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 4 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 3 tablespoons ground sumac
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds, lightly crushed (optional, Palestinian style)

Buy whole dried herb rather than the powdered kind if you have the choice. Pre-ground herb has already lost most of what you are paying for.

Method

1. Toast the sesame

Put the sesame seeds in a dry frying pan over a medium heat and shake them constantly for three to four minutes until they are pale gold and smell nutty.