Manaqish and US National Security

I was, as usual, subjected to a search of my luggage at San Francisco Airport. I had brought with me two Manaqish from Al-Wadi Al-Akhdar in London and asked them to wrap them well for me to last me for a couple of days. The Homeland Security guy started to roughly unwrapping my manaqish and removing the aluminum foil. I asked him to open them gently and not to damage the wrappings. They all got interested and I felt that the National Security Council in Washington, DC was going to hold a special meeting about my Manaqish. He then asked me to open them myself. I said: I would open them but you need to give me gloves. He said: why do you need gloves to open them? I said: are you kidding? Manaqish are filled with oil and I don't want to get oil on my hands. He went to fetch me gloves and came back with a pair of surgical gloves that they use for close inspections of luggage items. I proceeded to unwrap the manaqish and open them for their view. They started at them and asked what that [Za`tar'] was. I said it it Thyme and they did not understand. He asked me if it was meat. I said: it isnot but that I can't offer him to taste them because I only brought two. I was then cleared and I left feeling that the Homeland Security people knew about the Middle East what they knew not before.