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24 Things You Didn’t Know About Zaatar

posted on: Oct 7, 2016

Leyal Khalife
StepFeed

You know that an Arab household with no zaatar is just flat out wrong. Knowing that thyme is a vital ingredient to making zaatar, here’s a list of things you may or may not have known about zaatar:

1. Zaatar can refer to either just the plant – thyme in English – or the best spice mix ever made on earth

2. Many believe the name “Thymus” comes from the Greek word Thumuswhich means courage

 

3. Thyme is an evergreen shrub of the Lamiaceae (mint) family

 

4. In ancient Egypt, thyme was used for the process of mummification

 

5. Whereas, ancient Greeks burned thyme to freshen their temples

 

6. In ancient times, young  women wore a corsage of L thyme to signal their availability for romance

 

7. Oils extracted from the leaves contain: Thymol

8. Thymol is an active ingredient in Listerine mouthwash

 

9. The oils are also used in the chemical industry to make hand sanitizer & perfumes

 

10. Also used in times of war as recently as World War I to treat battle wounds

 

11.Thyme can be used to treat bronchitis & fungal infections

 

12. Thyme can survive for more than 2 years in the wild

 

13. There are around 350 species of thyme that are native to Europe, Asia & Africa

 

14. Romans used thyme to treat depression

 

15. Zaatar is popular in Armenia, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia & Turkey

 

16. The belief that zaatar alerts the mind [remember those zaatar sandwiches back during school days?] … well that’s a myth fabricated during the Lebanese Civil War to encourage eating of the condiment

 

17. Thyme is an excellent source of Vitamin C

 

18. It can fight the bacteria known to cause skin acne

 

19. During the medieval times, knights wore scarves embroidered with thyme as a symbol of courage

 

20. Fairies are said to love thyme. In both France & England, people created a bed of thyme to attract fairies

 

21.The king of fairies in Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” says, “I know a bank where the wild thyme blows”, referring to the bed of thyme where the fairy queen sleeps

 

22. A 17th century recipe used thyme as one of the main ingredients to enable people to see fairies

 

23. Thyme was once used on bandages to prevent infection

 

24. Aids in digestion when made into a tea