If you ask me what’s the thing I miss most about Lebanon after almost five months abroad, I have to say it’s the food and more specifically the Manakish and bakeries. Don’t get me wrong, the food is excellent here but I’m always finding myself looking for a good Man2oushe, Sharwama. Falafel or even Nayye (raw meat) place and they’re not that easy to come by, especially in Downtown Montreal. We found a good Labneh on the other hand (Phoenicia – Labneh at Adonis), and someone told me about a ZWZ-wanna be restaurant but by the time I went to visit it was closed.

Obviously you’ll never find anything similar to a small bakery “Furn el Hay” like the ones we have in Lebanon, which is why I’m hoping for a Zaatar W Zeit branch to open here soon. Back in Lebanon, I used to order from ZWZ at least twice a week, and even more frequently when they launched their awesome delivery app. Last time I checked before traveling, I had ordered 187 times in two years or so 😂!

Truth is, Manakish taste better when you’re dining in and they come out hot (Duh!), but it’s much easier to order in when you have a toddler and a baby to watch over, and they are delivered hot anyway so unless you keep them out for an hour, they’re almost as good as served hot. Wooden Bakery & Moulin D’or are other options for ordering Manakish but you have to call (I hate calling), they don’t have a hot line and they’re not punctual. Also, what makes ZWZ special is the dough (Multi-Cereal is my favorite) and how customizable their Manakish are.

Anyway back to the topic at hand, and since many asked me how I got my hands on a box of ZWZ Manakish, they don’t deliver worldwide yet (a friend got them for me) but you can order their Manakish in a travel box and they’ll come vaccum-sealed and travel-friendly. You just need to freeze them, and defrost and heat and they’re almost as good as new! I remember my aunts used to do that when they sent food to our cousins abroad.

On a side note, I found another way to prepare Manakish in few minutes here using a special dough from Costco and a small microwave/oven which I’ll share later on.