Manakish

Flatbread topped with za'atar (the herb mixture of dried thyme, oregano, sumac, and toasted sesame, mixed with olive oil into a paste) or with cheese, baked in a hot oven until the bread blisters and the topping melts into the surface. The Levantine breakfast bread, eaten warm with mint tea or coffee in Lebanon, but increasingly served as a meze starter in Western settings. Assuming the za'atar version. The signature is sumac's tart, fruity, faintly woody character set against thyme and oregano herbal depth, with sesame oil-richness and the slightly sweet bread base unifying the dish.

Pairs Perfectly

Massaya White from the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. The Lebanese answer for the Lebanese breakfast — Obeideh and Merwah deliver saline herb-driven character that meets za'atar ingredient by ingredient, the moderate body handles the bread and sesame oil cleanly, and the regional fidelity is unmatched. A Coteaux du Liban white from Chateau Ksara offers the same Lebanese logic at a similar price point with broader UK availability.

Pairs Well

Assyrtiko from Santorini, Greece. Volcanic mineral salinity meets the sumac-tart-savoury profile, the bone-dry acid handles the warm bread without competing, and the unoaked structure keeps the herbal topping clean.

Grüner Veltliner Federspiel from the Wachau, Austria. White-pepper aromatics nod to sumac's faintly woody edge, the herbaceous green spine meets thyme and oregano, and the dry mineral profile cuts the sesame oil cleanly.

Avoid

Oaked whites — vanilla fights the herb-and-spice topping entirely; tannic reds — wrong against bread and herbs; sweet wines — clash with the savoury salt; aromatic whites with rose or lychee — fight the sumac and za'atar profile.

Failing That

A Picpoul de Pinet, Languedoc.

If All Else Fails

Sauvignon Blanc, Touraine.

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