A tannour is a three foot by two foot oven made from a special kind of clay that retains heat.  Usually, four to five families will share a tannour, so it is placed in a location convenient for all the families involved. It is usually placed on the ground next to a wall.  The space between the tannour and the wall is filled with rocks that are packed smoothly with a special clay.

On baking day, the housewife generally mixes enough dough for at least fifty loaves of bread. While the dough is proofing, she lights the firewood in the tannour.  Thetannour is ready for baking when the flame dies down and the wood coals are glowing.  Baking in thetannouris usually a collaborative effort with the housewife and her friends.  One woman rolls out piece of dough, then passes it to another woman who tosses it on her hands until it reaches the desirable thickness and size, and she in turn passes it to a third woman, who places the loaf on a round cotton pillow.  Now comes the delicate part of the operation.  Using the pillow on which the flattened dough is placed, this last woman literally tosses the dough onto the hot clay wall inside the tannour, and, amazingly, the dough sticks to the wall.  It takes no more than a couple of minutes to have a finished loaf, which is removed with great speed by the woman tending to thetannour itself.

Zaatar Mixture

makes 2 cups

1       cup Mediterranean thyme

1/2  cup Mediterranean sour sumac

1/4  cup ground toasted chickpeas

3      tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

1      tablespoon ground rosemary

salt to taste

-Mix all the ingredients.

-Spread the mixture on a cookie sheet and place in a 350 F. oven for 5 minutes.

-Remove from the oven and allow the mixture to cool before using or storing.

-Add olive oil 2 oil to 1 Zaatar to make zaatar bread or to use as dipping oil.

The food literature I’ve been reading tells me that tomatoes originally came from Peru.  It is believed, although no one is sure, that they went back to Europe on one of Christopher Columbus’ ships during one of his trips following his first landing in the Caribbean.

Tomatoes are high in nutritional value no matter what their color.  They are high in vitamin C, B vitamins, Beta Carotene, and several anti cancer components.  Some scientists give tomatoes credit for the low rate of prostate cancer in Italy.

When you tomatoes, try to buy the vine-ripened tomatoes.  Most supermarket tomatoes are shipped long distance. To compensate for the shipping delays, tomatoes picked green, then zapped with methane gas to turn red, after which they are offered to us in the market.  To paraphrase Billy Crystal, they look marvelous, but they don’t taste very marvelous.  But, as you know the best ones are the one from your garden or at the local Farmers’ Market.

Refrigerating tomatoes takes away the flavor.It’s much better to let them sit on the counter, even if there is a danger of over-ripening.  One other hint: If you are making pasta sauce from from tomatoes, be sure to squeeze out the seeds, as they make the sauce bitter.  Some people like to remove the skin before making tomato sauce. I prefer to leave it on.  If you want to remove the skin, the easiest method is the dump the tomato in boiling water for one or two minutes and it will peel right off.

Before refrigeration was invented, many cultures invented ingenious ways to preserve tomatoes.  In Latin America salsa became the way to preserve.  In the Mediterranean, drying tomato slices in the sun, or making tomato paste was an the way to go.

While videos produced especially for You Tube are being prepared, they are not yet ready. However, two weeks ago, I held a cooking class on sauces at the local Hyvee on Minnesota Avenue. Hyvee sponsors a lot of great classes in their Club room each week, including fun courses for children and their parents. I did record this as a test video, and while the audio quality is sub-optimal (Turn your volume all the way up!) I thought I’d put it up for you to preview, as stimulus to ask what you’d like to see in the future!

Check it out here and learn how to make Pomogranite Walnut Sauce and Chili Pepper Paste in less than 10 minutes. Then, be sure to leave your comments and thoughts! Thanks in advance