Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Somagh


Sometimes I can just stand and inhale sumac/somagh...the tiny dark red spice made from Sumac or rhus coroaria found in the middle east...a distant cousin to our North American Sumac family. A big difference as Sumac family in North America includes poison ivy and poison oak. But this sour yummy spice is only addictive not dangerous. I'm going to make Stagg some homemade Za'atar with fresh thyme, sea salt and crushed black sesame seeds. YUM! Sumac tastes great sprinkled on chicken, in fatoosh, babaganoosh, eggs, hummus or even use za'aatar mixed with olive oil as a pizza topping. Sumac is believed to lower cholesterol by alternative folk medicine practitioners. Za'atar may also help with mental alertness.


2 comments:

Wandering Coyote said...

I love this stuff and was first introduced to it in Ottawa at a Middle Eastern cooking course I took. It tasted a lot like lemon. I've never seen it in BC, though, but we don't have as many Middle Easterners here as they do out in ON.

mister anchovy said...

I don't think I've ever knowingly tried it.

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