Sumac — the dried, ground berry of Rhus coriaria — provides acid without liquid, a unique property that makes it the seasoning of choice when a dish needs tartness but cannot absorb more moisture. It appears throughout Levantine and Turkish cooking as a finishing spice, a salad seasoning, and a marinade component. Ottolenghi's Jerusalem documents its centrality to Palestinian cooking specifically — where it appears on virtually every table as a condiment.
A deep burgundy-red spice ground from dried sumac berries, providing tartaric acid with fruity, astringent complexity. Used as a dry seasoning (over fattoush, musakhan, labneh) and as a component in marinades and spice blends (za'atar).
Sumac provides the acid note in dishes where lemon would add moisture and change texture — a dry za'atar-rubbed flatbread, a fattoush salad where croutons must stay crisp, a musakhan where the bread has already absorbed the roasting juices. The acid is the point; the dryness is what makes sumac irreplaceable.
- Sumac's acid is tartaric acid — the same acid found in wine and tamarind, with a different aromatic profile from citric acid (lemon, lime) or acetic acid (vinegar) - As a finishing spice: applied after cooking to preserve the volatile aromatic compounds that heat destroys - As a marinade component: the tartaric acid begins to break down protein surface at long marination times — similar to lemon juice but slower and with different aromatic contribution - Za'atar blend: sumac combined with dried thyme, sesame seeds, and salt — the sumac provides the acid element that makes the blend work as a complete seasoning [VERIFY standard ratio] - Sumac bleeds colour — deep burgundy stains anything it touches. Apply just before serving to salads where colour bleeding is undesirable Decisive moment: The colour and aroma assessment before purchase or use — fresh sumac is a deep burgundy with a fruity, wine-like aroma. Stale sumac is pale, dull-coloured, and flat in aroma. Stale sumac provides no tartaric acid benefit and should be replaced.
THE ART OF FERMENTATION + OTTOLENGHI JERUSALEM SECOND BATCH