Hello Za'atar, Do you realize you're my current favourite spice?
I first tasted za'atar on my visit to UAE years ago. My aunt loved flatbreads toasted with olive oil and za'atar. She used to get my cousins to run down to the local store to get them for evening snacks and it's caught my fancy ever since. Recently, my aunt gifted me a big big bag of za'atar and now I want to use it ALL the time. Thanks Anne!
This is the only complete dish I've actually tried and tested with za'atar other than using it as a condiment. Which is not surprising considering I don't actually cook that often. For my birthday, last month, I decided to have a 'Roast Chicken with Za'atar and Orange' loosely based on an Ottolenghi recipe I found online. When it comes to Middle Eastern food, who better to trust than Ottolenghi?
The first time I served the roast chicken as is with no accompaniments. There was a gargantuan lasagna as the second round. It was quite a success. This time, to celebrate the summer season, I had the cook make lemon rice. The lemoniness of the rice, the crisp lightly spiced chicken and the cucumber & mint chutney raita (a new discovery I'll share sometime) went down really well to beat the heat of a bleedingly hot summer afternoon.
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