While you may have wild sumac growing in your backyard, and you know it's poisonous, there are non-poisonous varieties of sumac that grow in the Middle East that are crushed up in powder and used as a spice.
Sumac spice is commonly found in Middle Eastern cuisine. The dark reddish powder has a zingy, lemony taste and is excellent when sprinkled on chicken, grilled lamb, and hummus. It's also used as an ingredient in zataar, a Middle Eastern spice mix. The spice was long used to add tartness to many dishes until the Romans introduced lemons to the area.
Sumac can be purchased at your local Middle Eastern market or online at places like Penzey's or The Spice House.
(Image: The Spice Trader)
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The majority of the sumac found in the Northeast is not poison sumac. Poison sumac enjoys a wet boggy environment, and has white berries. The small trees growing all along the roadsides and in meadows is edible. The red berries contain ascorbic acid-vitamin C. We gather the red berry heads and soak them in water, then strain the pink liquid through coffee filters to get "pink lemonade". Fantastic!
I love sumac. It's hands-down one of my favourite spices.
Karen, awesome idea on the 'pink lemonade!'
Staghorn sumac is not poisonous.