ZA’TAAR SABAH EL KHEIR: A taste of home my mother, Siham, can’t forget.

Some recipes are written down. Others live in the memories of those who make them. Case in point: my mother, who years ago, made a curious za’taar blend with… grated coconut.

My mother comes from Damascus, Syria, where za’taar was not simply a spice blend. It was something she enjoyed from morning until night — but especially as part of her breakfast. It is part of who she is and her very identity, something she could never part ways with. Even after she left Syria, married my father, and lived in Greece, Switzerland, and France with a lot of travelling in between.

My mother grew up eating za’taar every day. Like many families across the Levant, hers had its own version. Years later, after leaving Damascus to study medicine in Aleppo, she discovered a variation introduced to her as “Argentinian za’taar” — a blend distinguished by the addition of coconut, a nod perhaps to the rich history of the Syrian diaspora in Argentina. Syrians are very imaginative in how they understand the world, and I suspect they associated the South American continent with coconut… and that’s how the name could had possibly been born. Mom loved it instantly, and it inspired her to create a recipe that would not only include coconut, but also her addition ground roasted chickpeas and a few other things.

Throughout my childhood and adolescence, I remember watching her make za’taar at home, always excited and curious about the coconut. The aroma would fill the kitchen. The memory stayed with me long after I left home, and years later I would recreate her blend in my restaurant in Jamaica.

A few years ago, our family received the difficult diagnosis that my mother has corticobasal syndrome, a rare form of dementia that affects memory, movement, and daily functioning. She no longer cooks, and many of the recipes she once taught me have faded from memory.

Yet something remarkable remains.

While short-term memories can be fragile, the tastes of her childhood remain deeply intact. Among them is za’taar.

Today, she still eats it almost every day. It makes her happy. It makes her smile. In a world where so much has changed, za’taar remains familiar. It is one of the flavours she still recognizes instantly, one of the tastes that still connects her to her childhood, her family, and the Syria she left behind decades ago.

And while za’taar continues to gain popularity around the world, it is often presented as a single thing. But throughout the Levant, countless variations exist. Some are emerald green. Others are bright spring green. Some are darkened with generous amounts of sumac and even rubbed with pomegranate molasses. Others incorporate regional ingredients, family traditions, and personal creativity. These differences tell the story of a region rich in culinary diversity and imagination.

This blend is my mother’s contribution to that story.

Together with my brother, we set out to recreate my mother’s za’taar. We remembered ingredients she had used over the years and prepared batch after batch, inviting her to taste each one. A little more of this. A little less of that. Until one day, after a spoonful, she simply said:

“Stop.”

We knew we had found it.

The result is Za’taar Sabah El Kheir — “Good Morning” in Arabic — a name chosen by my mother herself. She selected the bright red packaging because it is her favourite colour. The name reflects a cherished Levantine tradition: za’taar is most often enjoyed in the morning, alongside bread, olive oil, family, and conversation.

The secret behind this blend belongs to her.

My brother, an avid za’taar enthusiast, helped greatly with taste testing- his feedback was equally essential. While I became head of the artsy fartsy department, designing the label and doing a lot of the photography- a lot you will see on my Instagram page. Together, we have created something that feels both deeply personal and larger than ourselves.

Above L to R: my brother (aka the za’taar connoisseur), Mama Siham (aka the “secret”), and me (the artsy fartsy department in this project)

This is more than a seasoning blend.

It is a reminder that while dementia may alter memory, it cannot erase every flavour.

And sometimes, a single taste is enough to bring us home.

We’ve decided to produce a limited batch and share it beyond our family. Not because we set out to create a product, but because we wanted to preserve a story, a memory, and a recipe that deserved to live on.

Available in limited quantities and shipping worldwide.

Made with love,

Siham, M & M.

#stayfoodcurious

WAYS TO USE ZA’TAAR

Za’taar is possibly one of the most versatile spice blends you can keep at home. It truly pairs well with everything- from savoury to sweet, don’t be afraid to use it in all the ways! I wrote an entire article on some recent recipes I made, feel inspired here.

However the original way is really to dip a piece of bread in good quality olive oil, and then into a small bowl of za’taar. This is how my mother almost always enjoys it, as well as most people of the Levant!