Man'ouché is a pastry that is prepared in homes as well as in bakeries in villages and city districts, and it is mainly consumed at breakfast.
There is a consensus among Lebanese regardless of their community, ethnicity, social class, or region that it is highly appreciated. A paste that has been engraved is called man'ouché. It is named after the Arabic word na'sh, meaning to "engrave" the dough with the fingertips of practitioners, whether male or female, adult or child. A mixture of thyme, sumac, toasted sesame seeds, salt, and olive oil is traditionally applied to the engraved dough discs. It is necessary to distribute family tasks according to gender when all members of the same family participate in the preparation of al-man'ouche, so that women will be able to pass on gestures and techniques of kneading, cutting, lowering, and filling and men will be able to transmit fire maintenance, loading, and packing
The dough and the filling ingredients were readily available until very recently. There has been a severe impact on the food sector since 2019 due to multiple crises (economic crisis, explosion of Beirut's port and destruction of a silo, shortage of gas, inflation, and power cuts). The war in Ukraine, along with all these factors, makes it difficult to supply. In cases where flour is unavailable on the market, and other ingredients are not produced locally, prices have increased considerably.
In order to ensure food security, the Lebanese state has always regulated the prices of wheat and flour. A permanent support program is in place to keep wheat and flour at low prices. Al-man'ouche, therefore, has always been accessible and affordable. It is maintained to avoid famine looming over a growing segment of the population, despite state support for wheat and flour prices being questioned at the moment. However, the price of al-man'ouché still flew away and was beyond the reach of the majority of Lebanese, especially children. Due to the over-commercialization of thyme paste in cities, there has developed a small, but growing, industry of counterfeiting ingredients like thyme and sumac, made from the powder of these plants, combined with smaller, less valuable plants. Other less expensive oils completely replace olive oil. In order to reduce production costs, this fraud aims to increase the volume of ingredients. State officials are intervening through the economy ministry's consumer protection agency to prosecute fraudsters for making counterfeit products harmful to health. At the local level, municipalities must also do this.