Abu Saber opened his shop five years ago, selling frisbee-sized discs of taboon bread adorned with red pepper paste, cheese or zaatar.

A less common variant, zaatar, is now in the Scrabble dictionary.

Add any toppings — cinnamon and sugar, fenugreek and zaatar are all options.

"Then I started buying readymade bell peppers. And then, making pita chips is something we do a lot when we have leftover bread, with olive oil and zaatar."

Last January, he petitioned for legislative changes to the designation of akoub, zaatar, and wild sage, arguing that wild foods represent a cultural birthright for Palestinians.