All You Need To Know About Sumac

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All You Need To Know About Sumac
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All You Need To Know About Sumac
Sumac is a spice often used in Turkish cooking in dishes such as hummus and lahmacun, but is has some other uses as well such as tanning and for medical purposes.

What is Sumac?
A flowering plant, one of 35 species in the Rhus genus, sumac is grown in temperate and subtropical regions. The flowers of sumac are very small and can be green, red or white; the fruit are small drupes that grow in dense clusters. Sumac seeds are spread by birds from their droppings.

The Different Uses of Sumac
Ornamental use - There are many kinds of sumac and some types, such as the R. aromatica, are grown for ornamental purposes and are great for decorating gardens with an exotic touch.

Cooking - One of the most famous uses for sumac however, is as a spice in Middle Eastern cooking. Rhus coriaria provides the fruit that is ground into a reddish powder that has a lemon-like taste and adds a tangy touch to food. Throughout the Middle East and Central Asia, sumac is used in all sorts of dishes from kebabs to salads.

When used as a spice, sumac is very versatile and easy to use, it adds a delicious flavour to even the most simplest of dishes. Sumac can also be grown in North America where it is used to make a drink called “Indian lemonade” or “rhus juice”.

In comparison to other spices, sumac isn’t really as well known in the western world but its popularity is rapidly increasing and it can now be found in regular grocery stores and supermarkets making it easily available if you are looking to experiment with it (if you aren’t already using it!).

The Native Americans also used to mix sumac with tobacco as a smoking mixture, and the stems of the plant were used for making pipes.

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Flavor enhancer with a woody light lemony flavor without the citrus bite. It is light enough to be used with just about any dish, fish, meats, soups, salads, in the same way salt and pepper is used. It is the Hippocrates spice in the sense that it will enhance the dish but first it will 'do not harm'. I use it all the time. Goes with almost anything.