I love using sumac with grilled meats, chicken and fish. I also like to add it to salad dressings, za'atar, pomegranate butter and fattouche. Although sumac is common place in the Middle Eastern kitchen, it is essentially unknown outside of the Middle East. Rather than ramble on about sumac I thought I'd share a little passage from Arabesque by Lucy and Greg Malouf as it's a far better read.



'Sumac is usually purchased as a coarse powder. It is ground from the dried berries of a shrub which grows widely all around the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean. Sumac is particularly popular in Lebanon and Syria, but it is also used in Iran, Iraq and Turkey and other Middle Eastern countries.

In Iran and Iraq sumac is used mainly as a tangy seasoning for sprinkling over kebabs- Iranian restaurants will nearly always set it on the table as a condiment to accompany grilled meats. Elsewhere, sumac is used in marinades - its tangy flavour works well with grilled meats, poultry and fish. It is often added to vinaigrettes and other dressings, or added to salads such as the refreshing bread salad fattouche. In Lebanon, sumac's greatest use is in the ubiquitous spice mix za'atar, in which it is combined with thyme and sesame seeds and used as a topping for fabulous freshly baked breads.

Sumac is a pretty deep red-brown colour, rather like rich loamy soil, with a sour, salty flavour. When you use it in Middle Eastern recipes, it is often a good idea to wash it in a little water first - heap it into a tea-strainer and run it under the cold tap for a few minutes. This helps to intensify the flavour even further.'

Malouf (2006, 288).