Saveur, April 2002

Bread from Heaven

In the Bible, manna is the food that God provides from the heavens to feed the starving Israelites as they make their way through the Sinai Desert with Moses. The small white flakes, resembling coriander seed and tasting like "wafers made with honey," miraculously covered the ground after the first morning dew. The people could gather as much as they needed for one day and trust that more would appear the next morning. Those who were greedy found that their excess manna rotted and bred worms overnight.

The word supposedly derives from ma-nah, a Hebrew root with an Egyptian stem, meaning, "What is this?" Scholars, monks, and scientists have been trying to answer that question from as far back as the 4th century. There are many differing natural explanations for the mysterious food, the most popular coming from the Sinai, where small heath-like trees called tamarisks, found near oases, secrete a white resinous globule that, yes, tastes like honey.

Here's a list of all the botanical theories, but take note that none of these selections form worms and few are found year-round like the biblical manna.

• Name: Tamarisk Manna (Tamarix mannifera)
  Country of Origin: Egypt's Sinai Desert and Iraqi Kurdistan
  Description: The puncture of plant lice on the slender branches and leaves form honey-like drops that are solidified during the cool morning desert hours. In the recently published Walking the Bible by Bruce Feiler, the author notes that the Sinai produces about 500 pounds of tamarisk manna each year, which is then sold by the local Bedouin to passing pilgrims and other "pious gourmets."

• Name: Camel's Thorn Manna (Alhagi Camelorum)
  Country of Origin: Native to Egypt and Syria
  Description: A low-lying shrub whose leaves and stems exude a sweetish gum, primarily in liquid form.

• Name: Lecanora esculenta
  Country of Origin: Algeria, Turkey, Iran
  Description: Throughout history, peasants of Persia have survived by eating this rock lichen. The flaky foodstuff is blown off the rocks in small patches by wind, often accumulating under shrubs or in crevices. It is usually ground and mixed with other meal to make bread.

• Name: Manna Ash (Fraxinus ornus)
  Country of Origin: Indigenous to the Mediterranean coast, but mostly cultivated in Sicily.
  Description: This type of manna comes from the South European Flowering Ash tree. Pieces of bark, no bigger than three inches, are scraped off the tree in September and October. The pale yellow flakes are mixed with water and are still used today as a children's laxative.