On the road from Jerash to Amman there is a small corner shop that sells tasty local olive oil and olives, cheeses, spice mixtures and sauces – we stopped on our way back from hiking to Pella and I picked up a big bottle of olive oil for $4 and jar of homemade cheese for $3.

Jordanians go nuts for tangy dairy products and eat just about anything with a side of plain yogurt. The simple labneh cheese is also super popular: the eyeball-sized, spreadable spheres made of salty cow’s milk are eaten for breakfast or as a snack throughout the day.

I like my labneh from Jerash with a round of the super cheap flatbread ($0.35 for a little over 2 lbs – thanks to government subsidies), dipped in olive oil from Ajloun and sprinkled with the ubiquitous, versatile za’atar spice mix. My favorite za’atar has sumac added in with the rest of the mix, usually containing toasted seseme seeds, thyme, marjoram, oregano, a bit of salt.

Olive oil, bread, labneh, and za’atar: the perfect snack.