What better to quench a Phoenecian spice than to drink a lemonade made from soaking six cones of the sumac that otherwise binds toasted sesame and Syrian thyme marjoram and oregano which with sea salt and olive oil and a hint of lemon combine in that most surprising of flat breads fatayer za'atar man'ouche.

Give us this Day is the online creative journal of Kurtis Kitagawa, PhD (Edinburgh), MPhil (Oxford), MA (Chicago), BA First Class Honours (Calgary), who, withal, considers himself a student of history. Check daily for freshly composed essays and offbeat creative writing inspired by a life spent in universities, government, and business. Job offers gratefully accepted. Alternative facts welcome, and will not be burned. Nor will their ashes be used as eye shadow!