You scanned the card of
Um Ahmad
72. A village near Jenin. Wild za'atar.
Her story
“The earth knows who loves it.”
Um Ahmad has gathered wild za'atar on the same hillside for forty-five years. She knows which slopes hold the morning damp longest and which stones the thyme likes to grow against.
She picks before the sun is high, when the leaves are still cool. She says the smell changes by mid-morning and that only the early pick belongs in a jar with her name on it.
Her blend is dried in the shade of the house her grandfather built, then rubbed by hand with roasted sesame and a little sumac from Um Salim.
Family
Mother of five. Grandmother of fourteen.
Her eldest daughter, Hanan, now walks the slopes with her and keeps the drying racks.
Her village
Northern West Bank
Terraced hills, stone walls, old olive trees said to be older than the village itself.
In spring the slopes above the houses turn grey-green with wild thyme.
Her recipe
Manakish with za'atar
Flatbread, olive oil and za'atar. The breakfast every one of the four women grew up with.
Cook it
What she makes
Reserve one from the first batch.