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Sumac

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Melissa Mead View Drop Down
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    Posted: 13 January 2012 at 19:19
I now have 4 oz of culinary sumac, and very little knowledge of how to use it. Any suggestions? It was good on rice. 
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Daikon View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Daikon Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 January 2012 at 20:07
Here you go: http://www.applepiepatispate.com/bread/sumac-chicken/

I can't speak to that particular recipe or any other, since I've never actually made Djaj Bi Summak, only enjoyed it -- a lot.  The picture looks right...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Hoser Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 January 2012 at 02:46
Originally posted by Melissa Mead Melissa Mead wrote:

I now have 4 oz of culinary sumac, and very little knowledge of how to use it. Any suggestions? It was good on rice. 

I'm willing to bet that Kiwi has a recipe that includes sumac....he cooks a lot of exotic dishes with wonderful spice blends. Trouble is...we haven't seen him around latelyConfused
Go ahead...play with your food!
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Melissa Mead View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Melissa Mead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 January 2012 at 10:53
Daikon, that looks delicious! And if I made a small batch, I might be able to make it in my toaster-oven sized roasting pan. Thank you!

Funny- I'd read that sumac tastes "lemony," and that article compares it to green apples, but I thought it tasted like artichoke hearts. The jarred-in-oil kind.
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HistoricFoodie View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HistoricFoodie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 February 2012 at 07:54
Sumac normally has an astringent, citrusy sort of taste. In fact, Native Americans and early settlers made a faux lemonade with it.
 
Sumac, by itself, is an integral part of Mid-Eastern cooking, and is one of the ingredients in the spice blend Za'atar; a mixture of hyssop or thyme, sesame seeds, and sumac berries. Za'atar goes especially well with fish and chicken dishes, and as a topping for flatbreads. I included it in my own Chicken Zohar recipe, for instance, a dish I originated years ago to celebrate the birth of the daughter of some Israeli friends.
 
 
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Melissa Mead View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Melissa Mead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 February 2012 at 15:08
They used fresh berries, I'm guessing? This stuff doesn't look like it would dissolve well.

My thyme plant is dormant right now. Maybe when it wakes up...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HistoricFoodie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 February 2012 at 17:10
No, everything is dry in the spice blend.
 
Sumac berries look much like red peppercorns when dry, and are used in the same manner. That is, depending on application, whole, cracked, or ground.
 
 I don't know how they harvest them in the Mid-East but I just wait until the berry clusters of Staghorn Sumac dry on the plant, and gather them then.
 
The plant za'atar is in the same family as wild marjoram and oregano, and is actually a wild thyme. Biblically it got translated as hyssop, but is not the same hyssop we're familiar with.  Za'atar is, for instance, what the Hebrews used to spread lambs blood on their lintels so the angel of death would pass over.
 
Something you might want to try: Rub some pita with olive oil and sprinkle it with a little crushed sumac and dried thyme. Pop it in the oven to warm through.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote gonefishin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 October 2013 at 12:05
   When I have sumac on hand I always seem to add it to my dishes.  It's just one of those spices that I gravitate to, when I want a little extra something under the hood. When I buy it, I normally get a small amount...but I always go through it quicker than I would have thought.

   I never harvested my own, as Brook said.  Which is really a shame because we've got it growing all over up here.  I guess that settles it, I won't be buying it any more.

    Brook, so you harvest when the berries are dried...bring them in and grind them fine?
Enjoy The Food!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HistoricFoodie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 October 2013 at 14:12
I take them off the stems and store them whole until needed, Dan. Then grind them.

FWIW, about 8 full seed heads (that is, assuming you get to them before the birds do) makes about a cup of berries.

Although I haven't done it, there's no reason you can't harvest while the berries are still plump, and hang them to dry like other herbs.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote gonefishin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 October 2013 at 15:12
Originally posted by HistoricFoodie HistoricFoodie wrote:

I take them off the stems and store them whole until needed, Dan. Then grind them.

FWIW, about 8 full seed heads (that is, assuming you get to them before the birds do) makes about a cup of berries.

Although I haven't done it, there's no reason you can't harvest while the berries are still plump, and hang them to dry like other herbs.


   Thanks!
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