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Sumac seasoning: what is used for
Recently, more and more, the list of familiar spices used to give dishes a piquant taste and smell has begun to be replenished with exotic ones. One of these new spices for us is sumac.
A shrub called sumac tannic grows mostly in the countries of Central Asia, the Middle East, and the Caucasus. The plant is sprinkled with ruby-colored berries, which are covered with hairs and resemble lentils in shape. It is these fruits that are used as a seasoning.
Sumac gives food a sour taste and rich color
Sumac can be purchased in the form of whole dry berries or in the form of a burgundy powder made from them. The juice squeezed from sumach berries tastes like lemon and can replace it in some recipes.
Not only the fruits, but also the leaves of the tannin sumac have a tart-sour taste. This is probably why it is often called the vinegar tree.
The fruit has practically no smell. But their bright color gives the dishes a beautiful color – from pink to cherry.
Why is sumac seasoning used in different countries
This plant has long been used in countries with hot climates: in Azerbaijan, Iran, the Caucasus. People have noticed that sour sumac berries can protect meat and other foods from spoilage, practically preserving them. Fresh sumach berries are not eaten, because they are tart, very sour, unappetizing. But as a seasoning, sumach powder is actively used in Arab cuisine, it is also added to some Turkish and Lebanese dishes. The spice is also popular on the Arabian Peninsula.
Bright sour powder from the fruit of the vinegar tree is put in various dishes made from fish and meat, as well as in salads and marinades.
Iranians and Turks use ground spice, sprinkling it generously on rice. The Lebanese, Syrians and Egyptians make a thick broth from the tart-sour fruits of the vinegar tree and pour them over meat and vegetable dishes. The spice is also used to decorate sandwiches.
Using the seasoning from the sumac plant
This exotic seasoning is put in kebab sauces, seasoned with pilaf, added to homemade cheese, vegetable stew, cutlets, meatballs and other minced meat dishes.
In the Caucasus, the spice is used to marinate kebabs: the spice ennobles the taste of mutton, softens the meat fibers, the kebab turns out to be juicy and soft, and the pink color gives it a special appetizing
Seasoning and onions give an unusual taste and beauty: it is cut into rings and sprinkled with bright sumac powder. Sumac is also used in combination with many other spices: cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, cloves, sesame seeds. And even delicious desserts are seasoned with this beautiful spice! It is put into sweet pastries and drinks.
This unusual spice not only gives dishes a beautiful color and sour taste, but also acts as an antiseptic: when sumac powder is added, products do not spoil for a long time. The seasoning has already been to the taste of many housewives, try experimenting with it, too!