What to do with..... sumac
Along with yoghurt, lemons and pomegranates, sumac is one of the key ingredients that provides the sour flavours characteristic in Middle Eastern food. Sumac is used extensively in cooking in the Lebanon and Syria and also in Iran, Iraq and Turkey.
The sumac shrub grows wild throughout the eastern Mediterranean. However, it is the berries of this shrub which are ground to make sumac itself. It ranges in colour from dark purple to rich red. Sumac has a pleasant salty lemony taste and a mild astringency that gives a refreshing tartness to food. Store it in an airtight container in a cool dark place.
Use sumac as a condiment for all barbecued or grilled meats or fish. Follow the Iranian custom and put a small dish of it on the table for everyone to sprinkle over their food. In Iranian cookery, sumac is often used sprinkled over kebabs.
Make some za’atar (or zaatar or zahtar), the Lebanese spice mix used as a dip for flat bread. Za’atar is also the word for wild thyme which is available from Middle Eastern food shops (or email rawnrg@xtra.co.nz for the name of your nearest supplier). Make the za’atar when you need it so it stays fresh. Recipes vary but try mixing together 1 part sumac, 2 parts wild thyme, 2 parts toasted sesame seeds and season well with salt. Use it with a bowl of olive oil and warm flat bread. Dip pieces of bread into the oil, then the za’atar and eat.
Put some crushed cloves of garlic inside a chicken, dust all over with sumac, season with salt and pepper and roast for a delicious tart flavoured roast chicken.
Make a frittata by frying some onions, garlic, sliced courgettes and pine nuts in olive oil until the onion is soft. Add plenty of lightly beaten eggs, some crumbled feta and a good sprinkle of sumac. Fry in the frying pan and then cook in a hot oven until set and browned. Remove from the oven and eat hot or cold.
Make a salad of hard-boiled eggs, blanched green beans, roast almonds, cos lettuce leaves, toasted flat bread broken into bite-sized pieces and a sprinkling of sumac. Dress with vinaigrette made with olive oil, lemon juice, crushed garlic, salt and pepper.
Pan-fry chicken livers and thinly sliced onions until the onions are soft and the chicken livers are well browned but still pink inside. Serve sprinkled with sumac on steamed rice with a dollop of yoghurt and some chopped mint.
Sprinkle a piece of eye fillet of beef with sumac, finely chopped garlic and olive oil, then barbecue until medium rare. Rest before slicing thinly and serving with chopped cucumber, tomatoes, red onions and warm flat bread.
Thinly slice courgettes, peppers, carrots, pumpkin and kumara, toss in olive oil and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Barbecue until well browned and slightly shrivelled and serve mixed together and sprinkled with sumac. Good with roast lamb.
Raw Salmon & Rocket Salad
2 large handfuls of rocket leaves
¼ telegraph cucumber, very thinly sliced
350g skinned, boned salmon fillet, sliced as thinly as possible on the diagonal towards the tail end
extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
1 teaspoon sumac
salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup toasted walnut pieces
Make a layer of rocket leaves on the bottom of a large serving platter. Scatter the cucumber slices on top and spread the salmon slices over the rocket and cucumber.
Drizzle everything liberally with extra virgin olive.
Sprinkle the sumac over the salmon and season with a little salt and black pepper.
Sprinkle the walnut pieces over everything. Serve with warm flat bread. Serves 4. 
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