Sumac

Sumac - dark-red colored powder seasoning with sour and soft fruit tart taste.

Maybe you've heard of this spice, but generally it is poorly known.

These are the fruits of a wild bush that grows in Mediterranean areas, mainly in Sicily and southern Italy and parts of the Middle East, mainly in Iran. The spice is an essential element in Arab cuisine.

The fruits are small, rounded to a diameter of about 5 mm, black-brown in color. Usually dried and ground to a powder with a purple color. The taste is sour, fruit and slightly astringent.

Sumac is very popular in Turkey and Iran, where the ground fruits in the composition of mixtures of doner kebab. It is also used to flavor rice. Mixed with onions, often used for Appetizer. Comes along with the thyme in the composition and Jordanian mixture of spices - zahtar.

In Egypt, Lebanon and Syria boil the fruit in water to form a very dense acidic flavor, which is then added to the meat and vegetables.

Used as other areas use vinegar, lemon juice or tamarind. It is used in salad dressings and is a component of marinades for meat, chicken and fish. Often to kebabs served sauce made from yogurt and sumac.

Origin: Turkey