Zaatar

Sorry Fatoosh, a new restaurant has stolen my heart (and from now on will probably take a significant chunk, though a reasonable one, of my paycheck). When the waiter arrived at our table with the Vegetarian Platter for Two, I knew I would be coming back to Waterfalls Cafe. The enormous oblong plate was overflowing with hummus, babaghanouj, muhammara, the freshest taboule you can find on Atlantic Avenue (and this street provides a lot of comparisons), and studded with dolmas and falafel balls. I respect any restaurant that can provide fresh, well-seasoned food to feed three hungry people for $20, and the fact that Waterfalls is BYOB raises it to Number One Choice for My Next Birthday Party.

My mother, during the usual frenzy that occurs when ordering food for a table to share, exacerbated by her constant state of personal frenzy, had also requested an order of zaatar bread, despite having no idea what it was. Fortunately, I had always wanted to try it – it’s on the menu of any Mediterranean restaurant and I’d heard good things about it on Anthony Bourdain’s TV show, but I always go for the simplicity of plain pita. The zaatar bread at Waterfalls was a doughy flatbread brushed with olive oil and topped with crumbled feta and the special seasoning blend. It had a nice crunch from sesame seeds and the toastier edges of the crust, and the course salt and feta added just the right amount salt and tanginess. But what made it an unquestionably worthwhile upgrade from plain pita was the combination of floral and lemony spices that go into the zaatar mix.

“Zaatar” is the Arabic word for the family of herbs that includes thyme, oregano, and savory, and it's also used to refer to the seasoning made by grinding the dried plants and combining them with toasted sesame seeds, salt and other spices. Precise recipes vary from region to region, and even from kitchen to kitchen – apparently in North Africa, wives have been known to keep their signature methods secret from their own daughters. It all sounds very complicated – I was grateful to discover when I got home that my mother had gotten me a container of zaatar spice from a specialty shop in Cambridge, Massachusetts, sparing me the trouble of discovering the correct ratios and ingredients myself.

I got to work looking up ways to use the stuff, and it seems there is no end to the possibilities. Zaatar can be sprinkled on hummus, rubbed on meats, swirled into labneh, mixed with olive oil to form a paste to spread on bread or bagels. It can also be discovered at the center of baked rolls or coating the exterior of balls of cured Israeli cheese. I want to try it as a seasoning for fried onions or a topping for brie and other soft cheeses, but for now my favorite way to eat it is with good bread (pita or otherwise) and deliciously grassy extra-extra-extra virgin olive oil.