Sicilian Sumac

Delivered in a resealable pouch

Uses in Cooking:

The taste of sumac is tangy and naturally salty, enhanced by a small amount of salt for preservation. It is very interesting because it allows people on a low-salt diet or those wishing to reduce their salt intake to still make their dishes very flavorful. Indeed, it "tricks" the consumer’s palate by giving the illusion that the dish contains more salt. It can also replace lemon in dishes.

This bordeaux-colored powder is widely used in Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and Iraq to season fish and seafood, certain meat dishes (especially lamb), kebabs, minced meat, rice, and even salads. If mixed with yogurt and chives, it makes an excellent dipping sauce. It is also often served separately at the table, so each diner can sprinkle it on their dish to taste.

Finally, sumac is also a component of zaatar, a blend of sumac, thyme, and sesame seeds consumed, especially in Lebanon, on vegetables or simply with bread lightly dipped in olive oil.

Ingredients: Contains 8% salt for preservation

Who am I?

Origin: Turkey

Scientific name: Rhus coriaria

Common name: Sumac of tanners, traveller's sumac, corroyère

This spice is made from the dried berries of the tree, which are ground into a slightly granular bordeaux-colored powder used in Middle Eastern cuisine.

Sumac (or simmeck in Lebanon) belongs to the Anacardiaceae family, which includes mango and pistachio trees. This family of plants consists of around 125 species, most of which are found in warm and temperate regions. Our sumac is a shrub 3 to 4 meters high, native to Southern Europe and the Near East, with fragile and brittle branches containing marrow. The tree's leaves are deciduous, large, velvety on the underside, and composed of lanceolate, serrated leaflets. In the fall, the foliage turns a very aesthetic orange/red. The flowers appear in terminal panicles.

Among the many varieties of this family, several are toxic, including the best-known variety to gardeners, Virginia sumac. This species, native to America, has become an invasive species in Southern France due to its rapid reproduction.

As its other name suggests ("coriaria" comes from "corium," meaning leather), the leaves of this "tanners' sumac" are used in leather tanning due to their high tannin content. They are harvested at the end of summer. This tanning makes the leather supple and light, like morocco leather, which is often tanned with sumac.

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A Little History:

The name "Rhus" was already used by the Greeks and Romans, who consumed sumac like lemon today, before lemon trees had arrived in Europe!

Translation:

English: Sicilian sumac

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