Manoushe za'atar

flatbread spread with za'atar loosened in olive oil and baked hot: Lebanon's breakfast, folded and eaten on the walk to work

Origin: Beirut & Mount Lebanon

From the journey of Thyme.

Manoushe is the breakfast of Lebanon. A disc of dough is dimpled with the fingertips, spread with za'atar slaked in olive oil, and baked for a few minutes in a very hot oven, then folded in half and handed over in paper. It is bought from the furn, the neighbourhood bakery, on the way to work or school, and the bakeries open before dawn to sell it. Za'atar is both a plant and a blend, which is a persistent confusion. The plant is Origanum syriacum, a wild Levantine hyssop closer to oregano than to garden thyme, and it has been gathered from the hillsides for as long as there is record. The blend built on it adds toasted sesame, sumac for sourness, and salt, and the proportions are a household matter that people are surprisingly firm about. That the plant is wild-gathered has become a real problem. Over-harvesting has put pressure on wild Origanum syriacum across the Levant, and Israel restricted the picking of wild za'atar in 1977 on conservation grounds, a restriction that has been contentious among Palestinian foragers for whom the gathering is both food and custom. Cultivation has since expanded and now supplies most of the commercial trade. The oil matters as much as the herb. Za'atar is never scattered dry onto the dough; it is loosened with enough olive oil to make a spreadable paste, which stops it burning in a very hot oven and carries the flavour into the bread.

Ingredients

Dough

  • 500 g strong white bread flour
  • 7 g fast-action dried yeast
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1.5 tsp salt
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 300 ml warm water, approximately

Topping

  • 8 tbsp za'atar blend
  • 10 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

  1. Mix the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Add the olive oil and most of the water and bring together into a soft dough, adding the rest as needed.
  2. Knead for ten minutes until smooth and elastic. Cover and prove for ninety minutes until doubled.
  3. Put a baking stone or heavy tray in the oven and heat to 250°C. Give it a full thirty minutes; the heat of the surface is what makes a manoushe rather than a pizza.
  4. Stir the za'atar and olive oil together into a loose, spreadable, deep green paste. It should drop easily from a spoon; add more oil if it is stiff. Do this at least ten minutes ahead so the herb absorbs the oil.
  5. Knock back the dough and divide into six. Roll each into a ball and rest for ten minutes.
  6. Flatten each ball by hand into a disc about 18cm across, then press dimples all over the surface with your fingertips, leaving a slightly thicker rim. The dimples hold the oil.
  7. Spread the za'atar paste generously over each disc, right to the edge.
  8. Slide onto the hot stone and bake for six to eight minutes, until the base is set and lightly spotted and the edges just beginning to colour. It should stay soft and foldable rather than crisping.
  9. Fold in half and eat straight away, with cucumber, tomato, olives, and mint alongside if it is a sit-down breakfast rather than a walking one.

Notes

Slake the za'atar in oil rather than scattering it dry, or it scorches in the few minutes it has in the oven and turns bitter. Buy za'atar from a Middle Eastern shop where it turns over quickly, since the blend goes dusty and flat within months. Do not overbake: a manoushe is soft and folds, and a crisp one has gone too far. The dough is better made the night before and proved slowly in the refrigerator.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

Mapping Culinary History

To explore — select an ingredient below.

Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route
Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
© 2026 The Gastrographer. All original research, narratives, and illustrations. All rights reserved.