For as far as I remember, food was available in our household, somewhere. Blessed with a family keen on culinary traditions, most of my vivid memories center around our practices of feasting; through preparing and preserving foods. And memories, of a family originally hailing from Andket, a small and sleepy village situated in the most northern reaches of Lebanon, as part of the province of Akkar.
A sleepy village in which my grandparents owned a plot of land, dotted and peppered with all sort of trees.
And as soon as we arrived on our regular visits, I would go around examining the trees to my continual amazement at how magnanimous nature is.
Pistachios, Walnuts, Olives, Almonds, Medlar, Persimmon, the list goes on.
These rich bounties, seasonal as most things are, could be benefited from all year long through their preservation for the winter season, a long established Lebanese practice called Mouneh.
Fresh milk would be beaten, strained, pressed and molded by my grandmother into a plethora of dairy delicacies, such as Labneh with its zingy creaminess, Chanklish and its pungent tanginess, silky butters and fresh yogurts.
Food has been and has remained a communal and familial affair; my Great-Aunt, to whom I owe a fair lot, was our family’s designated Zaatar scout and picker!
Years after her unrelenting services, her promotion came in the disguise of the unenviable task of picking the family’s Sumac trees, an arduous and unforgiving task.
And so for years, all that I unknowingly exposed myself, and was exposed to ended up being my most cherished treasure.
This is Tanios’ raison d’être.
Tanios started as a simple project revolving around Sumac and Zaatar. Why? Because life is in its spice.
Another reason is my family’s connection with these two spices, along with the realization that good quality oriental spices are quite rare in this part of the world.
And so the wild Zaatar picked by my Great-aunt, from all around the high places of this sleepy village, were swapped with her brother, my grandfather, who provided beautiful fresh Sumac.
With time, the realization of Tanios true purpose was to safeguard and pass on these memories that were fading away.
