Our spectacular Cured Sumac is made using an ancient preservation technique, packing fresh, wild sumac berries in salt. A classic Middle Eastern finishing spice, swap it for lemon juice in any recipe or use it to add character and brightness to salads, fish, meat or dips. It has a bright, sour, salty and slightly fermented flavor. This is one of our most popular spices with home cooks and professional chefs alike!
Highlights
Ingredients
Sumac berries (Rhus coriaria), salt (salt content is 1% by weight, or about 0.5 grams per jar)
Cooking tips
- Swap it for lemon juice in any recipe
- Use it to add character and brightness to salads, fish, meat or dips.
- Sprinkle it over hummus, salad, roasted veggies, meat or scrambled eggs.
RECIPES
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Trout Mi-Cuit
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Sumac Baker's Beer Can Roast Chicken
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Goulash-ish
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Tahini Cauliflower with Sumac
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Hearty Cauliflower and Radicchio Salad with Pine Nuts, Barberries, and Sumac
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Salmon Dry Rub
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Lemon-Honey Soda with a Sumac-Salt Rim
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Çilbir-Inspired Eggs
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Cucumber Yogurt Side Salad
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Easy, Creamy Vegan Salad Dressing
SOURCING
Sumac grows wild in the hillsides of Southeastern Turkey in the city of Gaziantep, close to neighboring pistachio orchards. Since sumac is not cultivated, the harvest is done by villagers in the months of July and September — one person can collect up to 100 pounds of sumac berries per day (including the weight of the branches). Some villagers collect sumac casually, as they come across the bushes, and other villages do the foraging work on a seasonal basis.
After the ripe sumac fruits are harvested, they are laid out to dry in a sunny, airy environment. Once dried, the fruit shells are separated out, and the fruit is ground with table salt and allowed to cure.
Since sumac grows wild, seasonal variations in the color and appearance of the finished spice are to be expected!