Sometimes you discover things that leave an impact, simple things with unconventional flavors in unusual places... I've found a mankousheh that left me speechless, Oum Karam's unique innovation.
It was back in winter, up in the hills of Becharre next to the Cedars of God, a small bakery where a lady was baking manakish. A lady with white hair and blue eyes, so beautiful and classy, standing in front of her saj, preparing one Zaatar mankousheh after another.
Back then, I remember being attracted by the color of this beautiful light green Zaatar and the dough, thin and light. It didn't stop here ... the taste, the taste of this mankousheh crunching under my teeth... I fell in love.
Months passed and I came back, back for the mankousheh, for the Zaatar. This summer, touring around Lebanon to see the St.Mary sanctuaries, I passed by for a mankousheh at Oum Karam. The same thin dough and its crispy heart and then the Zaatar; I'm not sure how she manages to do it, but the Zaatar has a unique color I've never seen and a taste that's so rich and so intense without being too acidic or resulting in heart burn.
Oum Karam uses whole wheat flour to prepare her dough and the Zaatar is carefully handpicked from the surrounding villages. I loved it so much that I ordered 150 portions for the next Box.
It was my third time today, my third time and all I wanted was the mankousheh. The crispy envelope, the chewy heart and the Zaatar that's so light, caressing every taste bud in style. Oum Karam harvests her own wheat and produces her own flour which she mixes with a little oatmeal.
Homemade Labneh, homemade goat labneh balls, locally harvested vegetables, borghol... Oum Karam produces everything at home.
If you don't have the chance to go all the way up to the cedars, maybe you want to call her for a kilo of Zaatar.
Oum Karam +961-3-892765 | +961-6-678095
