February is arguably the dreariest month of the year, and at this point my family and friends in the United States and Europe are paralyzed with winter fatigue. While winters here in the Galilee are generally mild, this past month we’ve been treated to several snowstorms and in recent days I’ve even had to pull … Read More »
zaatar
Wheat, and Zaatar, to the Mill
I’ve started to research in earnest for the paper I’m going to present at the Oxford Symposium this summer. The subject of the symposium is markets, and I will talk about the market in Nazareth as a site of pilgrimage, not just for Christians visiting the site(s) where the Annunciation is believed to have taken … Read More »
House Blend Herb Tea
On these roasting summer days, one can never drink enough, and I try to keep a pitcher of chilled herb tea in the fridge at all times. Very auspiciously, the path leading to my front door is lined with herbs – starting with rosemary, followed by zaatar (Syrian marjoram), lemon verbena, thyme, zuta levana (white … Read More »
My Cup of Tea
In our ongoing conversation about the foods of the Galilee, my close friend Balkees Abu Rabieh and I recently had a particularly enlightening chat about tea. Her mother-in-law, Balkees told me, meticulously picks the various herbs that grow in the garden outside her house – sage, zaatar, zuta (white savory), louisa (lemon verbena), chamomile – even rose … Read More »
A Day in Deir el Assad
By happy coincidence, a friend invited me to join a cooking class she was going to, to be held by a woman living in Deir el Assad, an Arab village that is built into the mountains opposite Carmiel, in the Upper Galilee. And just as fortuitously, I happened to be free this morning, and able to … Read More »