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Melissa Mead
Master Chef Joined: 17 July 2010 Location: Albany, NY, USA Status: Offline Points: 1174 |
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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
Chef's Apprentice Joined: 20 October 2011 Location: San Francisco Status: Offline Points: 381 |
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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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Hoser
Admin Group Joined: 06 February 2010 Location: Cumberland, RI Status: Offline Points: 3454 |
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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 lately
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Go ahead...play with your food!
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Melissa Mead
Master Chef Joined: 17 July 2010 Location: Albany, NY, USA Status: Offline Points: 1174 |
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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
Admin Group Joined: 21 February 2012 Location: Kentucky Status: Offline Points: 4940 |
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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
Master Chef Joined: 17 July 2010 Location: Albany, NY, USA Status: Offline Points: 1174 |
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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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HistoricFoodie
Admin Group Joined: 21 February 2012 Location: Kentucky Status: Offline Points: 4940 |
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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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gonefishin
Master Chef Joined: 20 September 2012 Status: Offline Points: 1778 |
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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? |
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Enjoy The Food!
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HistoricFoodie
Admin Group Joined: 21 February 2012 Location: Kentucky Status: Offline Points: 4940 |
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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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gonefishin
Master Chef Joined: 20 September 2012 Status: Offline Points: 1778 |
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Thanks! |
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Enjoy The Food!
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