Hyssop, lots & lots of it

[babyluck]

I just had to have it a few months ago while going through a Middle Eastern cooking phase. The only place I found it was americanspice.com, and the only size was 16 oz. I had no idea how much hyssop that would be. A bag the size of a decent throw pillow. I have given some away to the only friend who is likely to use it and she now has enough to last a lifetime and I've barely made a dent in my stash.

I originally purchased it with a few recipes in mind like hummus w/ hyssop and Lebanese cucumber salad. I've also read that it pairs well with apricot, cranberry, and goat cheese. It is said to make fatty fish and meat easier to digest. It is used for a cold remedy as an infusion but there are some weird warnings about pregnancy and feeding to "nervous people, children and the elderly" from the homeopathic folks. It is one of the herbs in Chartreuse and is used in Provencale cooking. Apparently, it is more available in Europe than the Middle East currently because it has become a protected plant. I guess that explains why I couldn't find it in my local Middle Eastern deli. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but it seems that za'atar is the Arabic word for hyssop, but since it has become unavailable, a substitute herb mixture is now sold under the same name. Also very confusing because the mixture I bought locally has 2 ingredients -- thyme and sesame seeds -- and tastes nothing like hyssop.

Anyway, back to my original question -- what to do with it? To be specific, what I have are dried hyssop leaves, in abundance. Any ideas to use up a lot of it before it fades into flavorless sawdust?

[fifi]

My sister has some enormous anise hyssop plants. She uses it to make tea and sometimes lays chicken thighs on a bed of it to bake. What kind of hyssop do you have?

[badthings]

As I recall, Olney discusses his love of hyssop at the beginning of Simple French Food, but i don't remember any specific recipes. if you don' have it, PM me and I'll check mine tonight.

[babyluck]

My sister has some enormous anise hyssop plants. She uses it to make tea and sometimes lays chicken thighs on a bed of it to bake. What kind of hyssop do you have?

That's a good question. It's definitely not anise hyssop. Probably hyssopus officinalis. It wasn't labeled with anything other than "hyssop." It is minty like anise hyssop but somewhat bitter.

[Wolfert]

zatar is a GENERIC word for a whole family of herbs including savories, hyssops, thymes, oreganos, etc. You can find them all over the Middle East.

Around the eastern mediterranean, the word za'tar (or za'atar) is used two different ways: to refer to a class of herbs and to refer to a spice and herb blend of za'atar and sumac (or hyssop and sumac)

In an article by Fleischer & Fleischer, the couple stated that the true za'atar of the bible was hyssop.

In Morocco, there are at least a dozen types of za'tar. In Professor Jamal Bellakhdar's La pharmacopee marocaine traditionnelle the true za'tar is origanum compactum Benth.

Identification of Biblical Hyssop and Origin of the Traditional Use of oregano-group herbs in the mediterranean region, 1987

Alexander Fleisher and Zhenia Fleisher

Faculty of Agricultural Engineering

Haifa, Israel

Edited September 15, 2003 by Wolfert (log)

[babyluck]

OK, that part is starting to make sense to me. Here's what the Catholic encyclopedia has to say on the biblical context of the herb.

There's another account of the hyssop/za'atar story here, which has thrown another level of confusion into the matter. Is it possible that hyssopus officinalis is neither the hyssop mentioned in the Bible, nor the hyssop used in the Middle East today, nor the hyssop that grows in Provence? Am I barking up the wrong tree?

Now, back to what I'm going to do with it. Using it as a bedding for fish or meat sounds like a good idea, considering the amount I have. It is pretty bland in its dry form anyway -- the thing it reminds me of the most is the smell of the alfalfa hay bales, with a hint of mint to it. So far I have only used it with other complementary herbs, so I don't know how much it contributes to a dish.