Sumac

[Twitchin Kitten]

Sumac is a bright red spice used in allot of Middle Eastern recipes. The tart lemony flavor brings a lovely accent to salads, chicken and other foods. It's bright red coloring gives all the dishes a vivid visual appeal as well.

You can find sumac in all Middle Eastern markets and stores but if you want and know how to identify edible sumac in the woods, it's so easy to make your own!

I find my sumac in all the wooded areas in NJ and NY. You pick the berries in the fall when they are starting to dry out. You can use the berries in the earlier time of their bloom but you'll have to let them dry out so you can grind them up.

When I was riding horses on a regular basis we'd pass all the beautiful sumac trees in bloom and I'd often grab a handful of berries and let the tart taste linger on my tongue!

Here are a couple of links to help you identify the tree and the berries. Oh, and the berries are a bit 'fuzzy' when you pick them... don't let that scare you off! They are fine with the fuzz.

Just be careful to not pick the poison sumac! If you're not sure, leave it be! I dont' want to hear it if you eat posion sumac for lack of ability to identify.
KNOW YOUR PLANTS!

http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Rhus_cor.html

http://www.theepicentre.com/Spices/sumac.html

http://www.oplin.lib.oh.us/tree/fact%20p...ghorn.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumac

http://www.rewild.info/fieldguide/index.php?title=Sumac