Sumac (Rhus coriaria) — the dark, dried berries of the sumac plant, ground to a coarse, sour-tart, slightly astringent powder — is the souring agent of Palestinian and Levantine cooking, performing the same function that lemon performs in Greek cooking and tamarind in Indian cooking but with a distinct flavour vocabulary: fruity, slightly resinous, with a cool, long-lasting acidity from its malic acid content.
- **Flavour profile:** The primary acids are malic acid and citric acid — similar to lemon but with a specific tannic, slightly resinous depth from the sumac berry's phenolic compounds. - **The heat behaviour:** Sumac changes character when cooked — raw sumac is bright and sharp; cooked sumac (as in musakhan onions, Z-21) develops a deeper, more integrated sourness and loses the sharpness. Both uses are correct for different purposes. - **Applications in Palestinian cooking:** Musakhan (the defining use), sprinkled over fatteh (bread-and-chickpea preparations), in za'atar blend (Z-22), on flatbreads, over roasted vegetables, and as the seasoning for raw onion in the classic salad accompaniment to Palestinian meals. - **Quality indicators:** Fresh sumac should be a deep, even burgundy-red. Old sumac fades to a dull brown — its malic acid has deteriorated. The smell should be sharp and distinctly fruity, not dusty. - **The water extraction technique:** For specific preparations, sumac is soaked in warm water for 10 minutes and the liquid strained — producing a sumac water (sharba) that can be used as a liquid acid seasoning.
Zaitoun