Hey for the wild community, it's Ayanna. Today we're bringing you a new series made in collaboration with Olive Odyssey, a Palestinian olive oil brand that serves as a gateway for Palestinian farmers to connect with people around the world and tell their story through the foods they produce.

In this series you'll hear from Ayah Gawazi Fowar, all of Odyssey's co-founder, about plants

indigenous to the Palestinian landscape and their deep ties to culture, resistance, and

enduring lifeways.

Amid ongoing Israeli occupation and violence against Palestinians, we hope the series serves as a reminder of not only the lifeblood of Palestinian land, but also of the sacredness of land itself and all the life it holds.

Plants are political, calls us to consider the way landscapes, foodways, and connection to the earth are intertwined with

systems of oppression and movements of resistance. May this be an invitation to reflect on the

central role land and the more than human world plays in movements for justice everywhere.

In this episode, we focus on Zatar. Thank you for listening.

Okay, we are back to now talk about that tar, which is one of my favorite herbs. And I remember the first time I ate it was with a friend in my early 20s or late teens. And we had it with yogurt and tomatoes, I think, and olive oil. And it was just such an incredibly unique flavor to me at that time and something that I have not forgotten, obviously.

And so maybe I'll start off with a quote from your website, which is, quote,

more than just a spice, Zatar is woven into the fabric of Palestinian life, from the scent of morning meal to the memories of harvest. But in parts of historic Palestine, including the West Bank and 48 territories,

foraging wild Zatar has been banned by Israeli authorities,

turning this humble plant into a political act of resistance.

I think probably here we're talking about one of the most important herbs in Palestine.

Maybe it's the most important.

There's another plant called Miramie, which is sage, which we share the same story where both were forbidden from foraging at the same time but I think

probably Zata would be the most important because it's used the most in kine

kitchens this is this is the fragrance this is the fragrance of a Palestinian kitchen. If you had to imagine a Palestinian kitchen

would smell like, it would smell like Zatar. People maybe know it as Syrian oregano. It grows wild

in the hills of Palestine, mostly in rocky areas with a lot of sun.

It's a very specific kind of land with huge rocks that the Zatar loves to be around.

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