Sumac is a spice used in cooking. Sumac spice: what is it, the main properties of the product

05.09.2018

Sumac is a Middle Eastern spice that is increasingly appearing in recipes and menus in other countries due to its growing popularity. If you've ever dined at a Middle Eastern restaurant, you may have noticed the dark red seasoning added to everything from salad to meat to baklava. Find out everything about what sumac is, what it is made of, its benefits and how this spice is used in cooking.

What is sumac?

Sumac (sumac) is a red spice in the form of a coarse powder with a bright, tart, slightly astringent lemony, almost vinegary taste.

Sumac is a widely used seasoning in Turkey, Iran, Lebanon, and Syria. It is sprinkled on rice or mixed with onions and eaten as a snack. Sumac gives dishes a bright red color. Street vendors often prepare the famous Turkish lula kebab with it.

Sumac is versatile, and chefs use it for everything from salad dressings and appetizers to desserts like ice cream and puddings. In Middle Eastern restaurants, it is even displayed on the table like salt and pepper, so that eaters can season their food to their liking.

In Jordan, the local spice blend za'atar (za'atar) contains sumac combined with sesame, thyme and other spices.

What sumac looks like - photo

general description

This plant belongs to the genus Sumac (Rhus), the Anacardiaceae family, and grows in temperate and subtropical zones. It can be found throughout the Mediterranean areas, especially Sicily and southern Italy, as well as parts of the Middle East, especially Iran. It also grows in North America, southern Russia, as well as in the Crimea and the Caucasus.

Sumac is a shrub with complex pinnate leaves and berry clusters that are located in dense thorns at the ends of the branches. Greens produce milky or resinous juice.

The plant produces piquant, reddish-purple, small (10 mm in diameter), round, hairy berries.

The name "Sumac" comes from the Arabic word Summaq, which means "Red".

There are several types of this shrub. Rhus coriaria – Tanning sumac – is commonly used as a spice in Middle Eastern cooking.

Its North American varieties, such as Smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) and Fluffy sumac (Rhus typhina), are also edible.

How and from what is sumac seasoning obtained?

Sumac fruits are small red berries, also called beans, that are dried and ground into a coarse powder to make a spice. They come in a variety of shades, from brick red to deep purple, depending on where the shrub is grown.

The fruits are picked just before they ripen, then left in the sun to dry.

Before drying, whole berries are soaked in water and then squeezed to extract the juice.

The result is a purple powder that has an astringent, sour taste.

What does sumac smell and taste like?

The taste of sumac is tart, fruity, sour, similar to citrus fruits, although more balanced and softer than lemon juice.

In the West, sumac is considered an excellent herb that can provide acidity without the use of vinegar in salad dressings and marinades.

It has almost no smell.

How to choose and where to buy sumac seasoning

Sumac is always sold in Middle Eastern markets and is slowly appearing in grocery stores around the world.

This spice can be found in the spice section of most supermarkets, or can be ordered online from an online store.

Fresh, high-quality sumac has a deep, rich hue.

How and how long to store sumac

Chemical composition

• Sumac is rich in vitamins A and C (from its fruits and seeds).
• It is rich in minerals such as calcium, magnesium and potassium.
• Sumac is sour mainly due to the presence of organic acids - citric, malic and tartaric.
• To some extent, the astringent taste of this seasoning is due to the presence of tannin.

Useful properties of sumac

Sumac has an impressive list of health benefits due to the compounds it contains.

Sumac berries contain tannins, which are also found in grapes and cranberries. Tannins are polyphenols and are considered anti-carcinogenic.

This spice has found use in medicine and has long been used for medicinal purposes, and modern research has revealed the main health benefits of sumac.

• There is evidence that he good for cardiovascular health due to the tannins it contains.
• The antioxidant value of sumac is phenomenal.. Sumac ranks first among herbs and spices for antioxidant properties, above cinnamon and oregano. It is even superior to acai berries (which are now celebrated as an elixir of health), as well as many fruits and vegetables. Eating foods high in antioxidants helps prevent heart disease, breast cancer and is effective in treating osteoarthritis.
• Sumac can lower blood glucose levels. Research demonstrates its effectiveness in controlling or preventing many chronic diseases that often accompany aging. Eating sumac has helped people with type 2 diabetes lower their blood glucose levels and increase their “good” cholesterol.
• Sumac has anti-inflammatory properties. This spice will help fight various colds and flu.
• Sumac is a diuretic, which means it helps remove toxins from the body through urine and is used in folk medicine to treat genitourinary infections and digestive problems.
• In women, sumac may increase breast milk production. It treats menstrual cramps by acting as an estrogen.
• It has antimicrobial activity. Research has shown that sumac works against a number of pathogens, including salmonella bacteria.

Contraindications (harm) and side effects of sumac seasoning

Harm and adverse side effects from consuming sumac are very rare, but possible. Do not consume sumac if you are allergic to cashews or mangoes, as it belongs to the same family as these plants. In this case, there is a high probability that an allergy will manifest itself to this seasoning.

Excessive amounts of sumac are contraindicated in people taking statins to lower cholesterol, blood pressure medications, and diabetes medications, as their effectiveness may be reduced.

Use of sumac seasoning in cooking

Due to its bright red color, sumac can be used as a natural dye in the same way as paprika.

Sumac pairs surprisingly well with other spices such as allspice, chili, thyme and cumin.

In most cases, the sumac you buy will already contain salt, so add less salt to the dish.

Here's what this seasoning is good for:

• Sumac goes well with chicken, fish and seafood, eggplant, chickpeas and lentils.
• It goes well with lamb, duck and other fatty meats. The traditional use of sumac is in kebabs.
• If you like hummus, try sprinkling it with sumac powder. This is amazing!
• Sumac adds a pleasant sour taste to the famous Bloody Mary alcoholic cocktail and other drinks.
• It goes well with fried or steamed vegetables, grilled lamb, chicken and fish.
• Try rubbing sumac on steaks before grilling or sprinkling on potatoes before roasting.
• Sumac can be mixed with natural yogurt or sour cream and herbs and served as a sauce.
• Other simple ways to use sumac are to add it to dishes that call for lemon juice, such as sprinkling it on a freshly prepared summer salad.

Chicken legs with sumac – recipe

Ingredients:

• chilled chicken legs – 700 g;
• sumac – 30 g;
• grape balsamic sauce (note: it is thicker than vinegar) – 50 g;
• coarse salt – 8–10 g.

How to cook:

1. Sprinkle the washed chicken evenly with sumac. Leave for 3–5 hours. You can marinate meat in sour oriental spices for a longer period (even the whole day), since it is a natural preservative.
2. Rinse your shins. After washing, they will appear unevenly colored - red-pink.
3. Transfer the legs to a preheated frying pan, immediately add salt and drizzle with balsamic, turn the heat to low and cover. After half a minute, meat juice will begin to release, so burning is excluded.
4. Simmer the drumsticks in the released broth for about 35 minutes. Turn them over once. The lower parts of poultry when stewed are always soft, but now they are downright tender and very fragrant!

How to replace sumac seasoning in recipes

If you can't find sumac, use one of several substitutes listed below.

• A mixture of dried and crushed lemon zest and ground black pepper. Their aromas complement each other perfectly and perfectly replace the sour taste of sumac. When using this substitution, use about one and a half times as much as the sumac recipe calls for.
• Za'atar is a spice blend that contains sumac, which means it will provide exactly the flavor you want. This alternative will work well in most dishes. When using this spice blend as a substitute, start with the same amount as the sumac and continue adding to taste.
• Tamarind is a tropical fruit that is known for its strong astringency. It is widely used in Indian and Thai cuisine, and West Indians use it to make drinks. You can view it at . Tamarind is very concentrated, which means you need to add a little at a time until you achieve a flavor and aroma similar to sumac.
• Vinegar is also a worthy alternative. It is significantly more tart than sumac, so use it with caution, starting with a teaspoon.

The vibrant color, astringent flavor, and versatility of this red Middle Eastern spice are worth checking out. Sumac not only goes well with many foods, but also provides great health benefits.

Our ancestors, who built their lives in the absence of chemical production, also had a desire to dress beautifully, and for this, the woven material had to not only be sewn, but also dyed. The fabric could be dyed ruby ​​or deep purple either with a fabulously expensive natural dye - purple, boiled from the shells of mollusks related to the Black Sea rapan, or with a fairly cheap one from the modest berries of the sumac tree bush. Surprisingly, there was still some sumac left to go into food...

The spice sumac has long been known and used in the Far and Middle East, Central Asia and the Mediterranean as a spice, medicine, dye and tannin for leather. IN There are up to 250 species of sumac growing in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America.

Sumac is an oriental spice with a bright ruby ​​color. Its taste is sour, tart, slightly astringent, and its smell is insignificant, slightly sour. It is prepared from berries that ripen on the Rhus coriaria bush, which belongs to the pistachio family. This plant grows in the mountainous areas of the Mediterranean and the Caucasus, as well as in Central Asia and the Middle East. The plants bear fruit very abundantly. Up to five hundred berries are harvested from one bush.They are harvested before they are fully ripe to preserve their beautiful deep red color. When fresh they are small, about 8 mm in diameter, and covered with hairs.

They are dried in the sun and ground into powder. The result is a bright ruby-colored sour condiment that can easily replace lemon. Apparently, for the sour taste of berries and leaves, sumac is often called "vinegar tree". Sumac is usually added so that in hot climates the dish retains its fresh flavor notes longer. In Europe, sumac is actively used as a natural food coloring; it is added to tobacco products or smoking mixtures.

The chemical composition of the seasoning is very diverse. The sumac spice contains tannins and acids such as malic, citric, tartaric, as well as succinic, maleic, fumaric, ascorbic, causing a sourish-astringent taste. Sumy spice contains volatile oils (less than 1%), which contain aldehydes and terpenoids, as well as fatty oils (up to 15%). The ruby ​​color is due to anthocyanin pigments.The sumac spice contains a large amount of vitamins and tannins. The leaves contain the greatest amount of tannins, so sumac tannin leaves are used as a medicinal raw material.
Tannins obtained from sumac leaves have astringent, anti-inflammatory and antiseptic effects.

Two more species of sumac grow in North America - Rhus glabra and Rhus typhina; the Indians made a sour “energy” drink from their berries, and the leaves were used as tobacco. Interestingly, the bark of the last two types of sumac glows under ultraviolet rays, like banknotes.

In Turkey and other Asian countries it is sold in any market. Very popular in Asian and Oriental cuisine. In Jordan, sumac is part of the spicy mixture zakhtar (crushed sesame) - a traditional seasoning for roasts. In Syria, Lebanon and Egypt, a decoction of sumac is made, which is then boiled to a thick paste and added as a seasoning to meat and vegetable dishes.

In our country, sumac is almost never sold in the form of berries - usually it is a ready-made coarsely ground powder of a beautiful purple-red or purple-pink color.

The word "sumak" possibly comes from the Aramaic adjective "red", from its fruit in ancient times red paint was obtained.
The name of the species comes from the Latin coriarius - tannery from corium - leather, skin, i.e. used as a tanning agent in the manufacture of leather.
Back in 1597, Gerrad noted “The fruits of sumac, eaten in sauces with meat, stop all the unpleasant sensations in the stomach...”. It is noteworthy that sumac was previously used instead of shoe dye, which is why it is sometimes called shoemaker's powder.

Most often, sumac is used in Arab and Maghreb countries, Turkey and Central Asia in cases where in other cuisines lemon or vinegar would be used. Applicable sumac in Turkish cuisine for dressing salads, in the Caucasus - for marinating shish kebab. In Lebanon, sumac is sprinkled on vegetables before grilling. Sumac goes very well with minced lamb, giving it a cherry tint and a pleasant fruity sourness. It can be added to yogurt or curdled milk in which poultry is marinated, and the same sauce is served with kebabs.

A pinch of sumac will replace aromatic vinegar in dressings for bean, beet or potato salads. Arabs often sprinkle sumac on hummus, both as an acidifier and to decorate the dish. In Maghreb Africa, whole sumac berries are boiled, then rubbed through a sieve, and the resulting broth is served with grilled meat. In Turkey and Iran, ground sumac is often sprinkled on fluffy rice. Sumac goes well with other spices - black and hot pepper, sesame, oregano, thyme, cumin, cumin, cloves, fennel, coriander, nutmeg...

The only indicator of the quality of powdered sumac is the color. The richer it is, the better the quality of the spice. It is also advisable that the powder is not ground too finely.

Official medicine is very respectful of the described oriental spice. She suggests using sumac as a powerful antioxidant. It helps the body get rid of toxins, waste and harmful substances. Sumac can relieve severe tissue inflammation and help severe burns heal quickly. Today, many drugs are prepared from it that help fight the symptoms of diabetes.
The spice sumac has a wonderful effect on the digestive system. Sumac infusion treats serious stomach disorders, including dysentery. In addition, it perfectly helps relieve an attack of cystitis. In this case, the infusion should not be too strong (at the rate of 1/2 tsp per 1 glass of boiling water, leave for 10 minutes), but it should be drunk in large quantities.

Sumac increases blood clotting and the secretion of gastric juice, so the seasoning is contraindicated in case of increased blood clotting and chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

The spice should be stored for no more than a year in a dry and dark place, using containers that close well. The loss of ruby ​​color in sumac indicates the expiration date.

It must be remembered that sumac should be added to dishes at the end of heat treatment. This must be done carefully, because it is very easy to make the food sour.

You need to know that there are some types of sumac that are poisonous. Moreover, these do not necessarily have to be fruits - there are some types of plants in which even touching the leaves can cause a serious burn.

Recipes

Palestinian chicken.

2 chickens (about 400 g each)
2 pitas
4 large red onions

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

4 tsp. sumac

salt, freshly ground black pepper

1. Dry the chickens with paper towels, rub the inside and outside with salt and pepper, and tie the wings with twine or thick thread.

2. In a deep, heavy-bottomed frying pan, heat half the oil and fry the chickens, one at a time, over medium heat on all sides until golden brown. Place the finished chickens on a plate.

3. Cut the onion lengthwise into quarters, then thinly slice. Pour the remaining oil into the pan where the chicken was fried, add the onion and fry until soft, stirring, 5-7 minutes. Sprinkle the onion with sumac, stir, cook for 2 minutes, remove the pan from the heat.

4. Lightly cut each pita round and divide in half (you will have 4 circles) and place the 2 halves, slightly overlapping, in the bottom of a small baking dish. Place a quarter of the fried onion on the pita halves, place the chicken on the onion, place the remaining onion on the chicken and pour oil from the frying pan. Cover chickens with remaining 2 pita rounds. Press lightly.

5. Place the pan with the chickens in an oven preheated to 160°C and bake for about 1.5 hours. Serve with couscous.

If the top cakes start to burn while baking, cover them with foil.

Fattoush salad

Fattoush salad is a traditional dish in Lebanon, Israel, and Morocco. This is an original baked salad, distinguished by a rich, specific taste and a strong, bright aroma. The Lebanese use thin two-layer pita bread as one of the salad ingredients, but it can easily be replaced with more affordable pita bread. There are quite a few variations of this recipe, because fattoush is traditionally prepared in peasant houses, including poor ones, where all the necessary ingredients may not always be on hand.

. Olive oil 6 tablespoons. Sumac 1 tablespoon. Cucumbers 2 pieces. Green onion 1 bunch. Pete 2 pieces. Parsley 1 bunch. Mint 1 bunch. Salt to taste. Lemon juice 2 pieces. Garlic 3 cloves. Iceberg salad 150 grams. Bell pepper 1 piece. Radishes 7 pieces. Tomatoes (tomatoes) 3 pieces. Chili pepper 1 piece. Black pepper (ground) to taste

Cut all the vegetables into medium cubes and place in a fireproof bowl. Tear the lettuce leaves with your hands, chop the parsley and green onions finely. Add greens to vegetables. Cut the pita into squares or break it into small pieces with your hands. Drizzle the pita with olive oil and place in the oven. Bake at 200 degrees until browned. Make the dressing: to do this, crush the garlic, remove the seeds from the chili pepper and grind in a mortar. Mix olive oil and lemon juice, add garlic, sumac, chili pepper, black pepper, salt. Dress the salad, toss, and top with pita chips. Instead of pita bread, you can use slices of regular baguette.

Pepper and peach salad

Peaches 3 pieces Sweet pepper 3 pieces Olive oil 60 ml Suluguni cheese 200 g Fresh mint 1 tablespoon Parsley 1 tablespoon Dill 1 tablespoon Sumac pinch Salt to taste Ground black pepper to taste Lemon juice 2 tablespoons

Drizzle the peppers with a little olive oil and roll them in salt. Bake in the oven for 7-8 minutes. Cut the peaches in half and remove the pit. Cut into large slices. Place them in a large salad bowl and add lemon juice, a little olive oil, mix well. Leave to marinate for a few minutes. Chop the dill and parsley, pick off the mint leaves and chop. Remove the skin and seeds from the baked peppers, chop coarsely. Fry the peaches in a small amount of oil until golden brown. While they are frying, cut the cheese into large cubes. Place the fried peaches in a salad bowl and carefully mix with the peppers. Add finely chopped herbs, a little salt, a spoonful of olive oil and sumac. Fry the cheese. Transfer the salad to a serving platter and top with slices of cheese. Add sumac.

Salad with grapefruit, avocado and pomegranate.

1 grapefruit
1 avocado
1/2 pomegranate seeds
red basil
sumac
sauce:
4 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp narsharab sauce

Peel the grapefruit from films and divide into segments. Cut the avocado into thin slices. Combine avocado, grapefruit, pomegranate, basil. Mix the sauce separately. Pour the sauce over the salad and sprinkle with sumac.

Beef kebabs with yoghurt sauce and sumac

· 1 kg ground beef
· 2 tbsp. finely chopped cilantro
· 1 medium sized onion
· 1 tsp sweet paprika
· 1/2 tsp. ground allspice
· 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
· 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
· 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
· 1 tsp (no heap) brown sugar
· salt and pepper to taste
· a little olive oil
· wooden skewers for frying and serving

Ingredients for Sumac Yogurt Sauce:

· 100 g Greek yogurt
· 1 tsp sumac (you can read more about sumac )
· 2-3 finely minced garlic cloves
· zest of 1 lemon
· a pinch of paprika (you can use flakes)
· 1-2 tbsp. olive oil

1. Pre-soak the skewers in cold water for 20-30 minutes.
2. Finely chop the onion. Add to the minced meat. Also add all the spices and chopped cilantro. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and beat the minced meat.
3. On a clean surface, roll into “sausages” around the skewers. It was more convenient for me to first form the sausages, and then thread them onto skewers.
4. Drizzle them with a little olive oil.
5. Heat the grill pan (I think you can bake them at 200 degrees for 25 minutes or until the minced meat is ready). Grill the kebabs for about 15-20 minutes or until the meat is cooked through over medium heat, turning them occasionally.
6. Serve kebabs with couscous or bulgur, garnished with fresh cilantro leaves.
7. To prepare the sauce, mix all ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with kebabs.

Sumac is a spice that is not very well known in our country, and which is not often used in home cooking. And in vain. Because it is tasty and healthy, and even helps you lose weight.

What it is?

Crushed berries of a plant of the genus Rhus - This is what kind of spice this sumac, or sumac, is. Genus Rhus includes about 250 species of shrubs and small woody plants.

Representatives of the genus grow throughout the globe, but are most often found in East Asia, Africa and North America. However, the fruits of only one single species - tannic sumac ( ) is what the spice is made from. The remaining representatives of the genus are inedible.

Flowers , and then its berries are collected in large bright red inflorescences (shown in the photo).

The spice has an unexpected – spicy and at the same time fruity – taste, reminiscent of lemon. It is actively used in traditional cuisine of the Middle East.

Beneficial features

In addition to the fact that sumac seasoning can give a dish an unusual taste and aroma, it has many medicinal properties for human health.

This remarkable fact is explained simply. The spice contains a lot of vitamin C, as well as antioxidants from the group of polyphenols and flavonoids (gallic acid, methyl gallate, kaempferol, quercetin). Tannins are also present in the seasoning - substances that have a disinfecting and anti-inflammatory effect.

Here are some of the benefits of sumac for human health.

1. Preventing diabetes. Current scientific evidence suggests that regular consumption of sumac reduces blood sugar levels by 13%. But only in cases where it is necessary. In addition, the spice is useful in treating insulin resistance, which is the main cause of type 2 diabetes and obesity.
2. Prevention of atherosclerosis. Recently, evidence was obtained that the seasoning helps reduce the level of triglycerides and low-density lipoproteins. Positive results have so far only been obtained in animal studies. But there is every reason to think that they will be confirmed in clinical trials.
3. Antioxidative activity. Sumac is a powerful antioxidant that protects human cells from the harmful effects of free radicals. Since damage to membranes, genetic apparatus and cell organelles by free radicals underlies most serious diseases from cancer to arthritis, it can be argued that the spice helps improve human health in general and prolong life.
4. Preserving Bone Density. In animal studies, sumac appears to have specific benefits for women. Since it helps prevent the development of osteoporosis by changing the activity of certain proteins involved in bone metabolism.
5. Reducing muscle pain. Sumac seasoning has found application in. It has been proven that it can reduce muscle pain after intense aerobic exercise.

How does it affect weight loss?

Extremely positive, like most other spices.

Sumac has several properties that make it beneficial for weight loss.

• Ability to reduce insulin resistance. This is extremely important for losing weight, since low sensitivity to insulin leads not only to diabetes, but also to the accelerated formation of excess fat deposits, especially in the abdominal area. That is, it is impossible without normalizing the body’s sensitivity to insulin. And sumac helps to do this.
• Because the seasoning is filled with antioxidants, it fights inflammation. According to current scientific information, in the body of all people who have significant weight, many chronic inflammatory reactions occur, which interfere with losing weight and contribute to further weight gain.
• Sumac reduces the production of the pancreas enzyme lipase, which is necessary for the breakdown of dietary fats. The human body receives fewer calories from only partially digested fats than from those that have been completely digested.

TO How is it used in cooking?

Sumac seasoning is widely used in cooking. Here are just a few of the possible methods of using it.

1. Replace vinegar or lemon juice in marinade for meat dishes. The spice is mixed in water and added instead of juice. This makes it possible not only to create a marinade that is original in taste, but also to protect the meat from infection by pathogenic microorganisms.
2. If you do not marinate the meat, but immediately fry it, you can simply rub the spice on the piece. Like salt.
3. Sumac is consumed along with fried or stewed vegetables. Moreover, you can add it both during the cooking process and sprinkle it on the food immediately before serving.
4. The spice is used instead of lemon in seafood dishes, for example, with shrimp, red fish, and squid. Just like with vegetables, you can add seasoning either during the cooking process or already at the table.
5. In Arab countries, sumac is always sprinkled on hummus before serving. It is even believed that this is partly due to the presence of this spice in it.
6. The spice goes well not only with, but also with any other legumes. Therefore, it is actively added to any dishes made from legumes, be it soups, stews, salads, etc. You can add it at the cooking stage, and sprinkle it just before eating.
7. Sumac is also used in pasta dishes. If you make your own noodle dough, you can safely add this spice to it. If you are cooking ready-made products, sprinkle them on a plate.
8. In addition to noodle dough, the spice also goes well with baked goods. Especially with bread. In the Middle East, sumac is often used in traditional bread baking.
9. In the US, adding spices to popcorn is popular. This makes this delicacy both tastier and healthier.

In addition, sumac is the central ingredient in the za'atar spice blend, which also includes sesame seeds, thyme, and sometimes a few other ingredients.

What are the possible harms?

Sumac seasoning is generally well tolerated when used simply in cooking rather than taken in large quantities as a medicine. This is not recommended.

• In rare cases, there can be an allergy to the spice, which is more likely to develop in those people who are allergic to mango and cashew.
• Since sumac is quite effective in helping to lose weight, those who are trying to lose weight should not rely on it.
• The spice is not recommended for diabetics to use while taking antidiabetic medications, as there is a risk of hypoglycemia. It can be included in the diet only with the permission of the attending physician.

Conclusion

Sumac is an unusual spice that tastes both spicy and fruity. This spice can even replace lemon in some recipes.

The seasoning is obtained from the berries of the plant. with large bright red inflorescences.

Sumac contains many bioactive compounds, due to which it has a positive effect on human health.

The spice helps to lose weight and maintain normal blood sugar levels, protects against cancer, atherosclerosis, and diseases of the musculoskeletal system.

To add piquancy to a dish, housewives most often use spices available in any region - dill, parsley, basil, garlic, pepper, paprika.

True, recently the list of spices has become much richer. Thanks to the media, as well as travel that has become more accessible, we now know many spices that we had never heard of before. And now those seasonings that were used only in a certain region are found in the cuisines of other countries.

Few people have heard of sumac before either. But those who were still familiar with this shrub believed that it was grown as an ornamental plant.

Most often it is found in the Caucasus, the Middle East and Central Asian countries. The entire bush is covered with small sour ruby-colored berries covered with hairs.

This plant has been known there as a seasoning for a long time, from the time when people needed to somehow preserve food (mainly meat) from spoilage.

Indeed, in such a hot climate, which exists in Iran, Azerbaijan, and the Caucasus, there could be no talk of any natural preservation of meat. It was then that people noticed the extraordinary property of sumac berries to preserve meat products. These fruits contain so much acid that they can easily replace vinegar.

Nobody eats fresh berries, as they are sour, tart and unappetizing. But when dried and ground, these red fruits, shaped like lentils, become an extraordinary seasoning that can enhance more than one dish.

What dishes are sumac added to?

In many countries, meat is marinated using vinegar, lemon juice and other acidic liquids. But in the Caucasus, sumac is the first spice that people think of when they need to marinate meat for shish kebab or barbecue.

Sumac enhances lamb especially well.

This spice is added to minced meat to make sausages, meatballs, kebab and other minced meat products.

Sumac does not have a pronounced aroma, but its purple color makes the meat very appetizing, and the sour taste helps soften the meat fibers, making the meat soft and juicy.

Sumac is also used as a seasoning for fish. To do this, it is added to the marinade or to the dish during its preparation.

The spice goes well with vegetables. It is especially often used in dishes made from beans, peas and lentils, and is also added to other vegetables that have a bland taste.

Sumac also gives an unusual flavor to onions, which are first cut into rings and then sprinkled with this bright seasoning.

Sumac is added to sauces made from fermented milk drinks. They are used to dress salads or served in a separate cup with meat dishes.

Due to its neutral smell, sumac is suitable for sweet baked goods, to which it adds a piquant sourness.

This seasoning is also added to sweet drinks, replacing citric acid with it and imbuing them with a beautiful red color.

What spices does sumac go with?

Sumac harmonizes well with almost any herb.

It is combined with cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and with basil, marjoram, and coriander. At the same time, be sure to take into account your own preferences. After all, there are so many people, so many tastes. If one person, for example, likes reddish-colored meat with spicy notes, another person will prefer it to have a natural color and natural smell.

Sumac goes well with sesame. It is not for nothing that the spicy mixture zakhtar, which contains these berries, is very popular in Jordan.

Helpful information

• In addition to its taste, sumac also has medicinal properties. Berries contain malic, tartaric, citric, succinic and ascorbic acid.
• Thanks to the tannins contained in the berries, this spice helps with indigestion.
• This seasoning also has an antiseptic effect, so products to which sumac is added do not spoil for a long time.
• The quality of the seasoning can be determined by the intensity of the color. The brighter the sumac, the fresher the spice. The dull color of the spice indicates that it has already expired or has not been stored correctly.
• Store sumac in a hermetically sealed container in a dark, dry place. The storage period should not exceed one year.
• Sumac is not recommended for consumption by people who have increased blood clotting, as well as those with chronic stomach diseases.
• Sumac is added to food in small quantities, as the seasoning can make the dish very sour.
• Before adding sumac to your food, you need to take into account the fact that the seasoning turns food red. And if you want to preserve the light color of the dish, then it is better not to use sumac.

If the housewife is using sumac for the first time, she should first get to know it better, trying it in dry form in order to imagine what dish she would like to add it to. And if she likes this seasoning, then you can safely experiment with additives.