sdrucker wrote:

Cyriaco wrote:One more note: Palestinian za'atar can no longer be harvested in the wild, as it was traditionally. Going hunting for hillside herbs was a traditional women's activity in the Levant in the spring (and still is in places), and anything extra was sold in markets. Since 1977, Israel has considered wild za'atar protected and has forbidden its collection, both within Israel proper, and within the West Bank. At IDF-administered checkpoints, za'atar plants is confiscated.

Any imported Palestinian za'atar, if it is actually from Palestine, will just be cultivated plants, which may be a fine product, but there is a political controversy at work even there, since even the locals can't gather the wild stuff when it is in season.

Not to walk into a political controversy, but while it may or may not be true about Israel forbidding individuals harvesting wild za'atar for either political or preservation reasons, you can certainly buy za'atar in Israel at any half-decent souk. In fact we had what was allegedly fresh za'atar tea at a zimmer (a B&B) in Galilee a few years ago, and I bought dried za'atar at a market in Zichron Yaakov that's lasted us almost two years.

BTW you can buy (or could buy; DK if it's still the case) pickled za'atar from Lebanon at Kalustyan's in NYC a few years ago. We'd bought some but sadly the jar didn't survive the trip home in the plane. Apparently the pressurization of the cabin made the jar crack, which created somewhat of a messy situation when we opened the wrapped package . FWIW they carry what they call Israeli, Aleppo/Syrian, Lebanese, and Jordanian za'atar mixes. If you go to their website and search for zaatar, you can order anything form a 2.2 oz jar to a 15 lb pack. That should keep you busy for quite a while.

In 2010 I tried to bring a massive duffle bag of fresh Za'atar back to Chicago from the West Bank where my aunt grew it in her yard. I insisted that it was a waste of time and would not make it through customs, but she insisted, having promised it to one of her sisters here in Chicago. Needless to say as soon as that duffle bag dropped down the baggage conveyor, the dogs were on it like white on rice. For a second or two people must have thought I was an international drug smuggler, which at least on that occasion, was not true.

What a waste of Za'atar though. Damn.

Also - BTW, the best use for fresh Za'atar, in my opinion, is in a baked preparation similar to spinach pie "sfiha", that is, sumac, lemon, onion and fresh Za'atar stuffed into a triangular pie and brushed liberally with olive oil. That stuff is amazing.

Riffing on Turkob's method from the Sanabel thread I had a fresh from the oven Taza zaatar bread with parsley, shallot, Aleppeo pepper, lemon and olive oil, I know I have sumac somewhere, but it seems to be in witness protection. Rolled up, ate, enjoyed, had another.

Taza Bakery Zaatar Bread



Taza Bakery, count me a Fan!

I'll have to give Taza a try sometime. Feel a little saddened I've kept missing trying them out, for whatever weird reason. And not the strip mall reason, since I have nothing against going to great eateries that coincidentally are within a strip mall!

Years fly by, culinary crushes come and go, still digging Taza Bakery.

Soujouk, Zaatar.
I seriously doubt Taza is sourcing tomatoes from MightyVine.


Taza Bakery, Count me a Fan!

Being sent by a small business on a wild goose chase down Devon Ave had the compensation of taking me in the neighborhood of Taza, where I made a pit stop. Happy to report both the zataar and mouhamara tandoor "pizzas" were on point.
Mouhamara is roasted red pepper puree with onion and ground walnuts, and it may have become a go-to order for me.
I always like it when workers in the kitchen are laughing and joking with each other while putting out top-notch stuff.
If you've never been, it's worth going out of the way for.

I recently learned that Taza Bakery is offering a knafeh sandwich. It makes for a hell of a breakfast or snack.

Original owner has sold Taza four months ago.
The food is getting worse with each visit.
I am done going there. Dog food, period.

Lenny007 wrote:Original owner has sold Taza four months ago.
The food is getting worse with each visit.
I am done going there. Dog food, period.

I grabbed lunch there yesterday and was wondering if changes had taken place. Grabbed a shawarma plate and was charged regular price instead of the lunch, which I was surprised by. But more importantly, no lentil soup was included... Argh

The food itself was fine but makes it a less appealing spot w other options nearby

Lenny007 wrote:Original owner has sold Taza four months ago.
The food is getting worse with each visit.
I am done going there. Dog food, period.

Care to elaborate? What was so bad about it? This is disappointing if accurate...

Habibi wrote:

Lenny007 wrote:Original owner has sold Taza four months ago.
The food is getting worse with each visit.
I am done going there. Dog food, period.

Care to elaborate? What was so bad about it? This is disappointing if accurate...

Microscopic pieces of very dry meat, unevenly "colored" very dry tasteless rice, bread is missing salt most of the times, etc etc. They take my credit card and go to next door store to charge me. Two women behind the counter are running around the store without visible purposes, awfully slow service while dining room is almost empty.
And once your nostalgia is over you realize the food sucks. You should check by yourself and, perhaps, tell them in native tongue because they won't last.

Sadly, you are right. Many of the old staff members seem to be gone. I asked whether they were under new management/ownership, and they said yes. The quality of the mana'eesh seems roughly comparable, though, if a little inconsistent. I wish there were somewhere else I could go to get my fix of mana'eesh with mhammara and zaatar. Sanabel, of course, does the zaatar, but they don't do the mhammara.

Cyriaco wrote:Sadly, you are right. Many of the old staff members seem to be gone. I asked whether they were under new management/ownership, and they said yes. The quality of the mana'eesh seems roughly comparable, though, if a little inconsistent. I wish there were somewhere else I could go to get my fix of mana'eesh with mhammara and zaatar. Sanabel, of course, does the zaatar, but they don't do the mhammara.

Libanais does both

Zaatar and tea snack at New Taza Bakery.

Eight months after by Lenny007's post they seem to have the kinks worked out, and there is a glassed in steam cabinet of pretty good looking split chicken, rice, lentils . . . I did not take a picture as the woman at the register seemed, gosh I don't know, flustered is too strong of a word, maybe not entirely comfortable, with my presence though I was only one of two customers in the 15-minutes I was there.

Tea was strong, if not as hot as I might like as it came out of a pump thermos, and the zaatar bread, though freshly made on the spot, seemed to lack depth and crisp.

Frankly what I wrote seems a little harsh, and is entirely subjective, I'll be back for sure if only to check my initial impression.

No idea on the credit card situation, I paid in cash. Oh, and the days of the $1.99 zaatar bread and tea special are long gone, my order of same was closing in on $5 with tax.

Doctor that bought Taza from original owner sold it to small store owner next door. What you were seeing there last week was the family of 3rd owner behind the counter. I bought flat bread ($2) and beef shawarma sandwich ($6.50). Sandwich was extremely acidic. Yes, they have hot display with food prepared god knows when. Their bread was always good... On the day it was baked. This outfit got their kinks worked out alright. No customers? Oy vey.

By kinks worked out I mean the ordering system you mentioned. One of the reasons I stopped was for fresh bread, there was one lonely pack of flat bread, no pita no samoon. I did not realize they were on the third owners, I had not been in a while, but I always liked the fellow who used to man the register and I thought, was the owner.

This is very disappointing. I was going to be in Chicago for the first time in a while this weekend and wanted to pick up manakeesh. We'll see...

G Wiv – You are correct: the gentleman who manned the register for so long was the owner.

He had talked for a couple of years about finding a manager who could relieve him of some of the many hours that he put in to make the operation run so well. The problem was – according to him – finding someone with the smarts, the work ethic and the ability to speak the language.

Apparently, he never did find the right person.