Hi!

I just made an awesome dip the other day with sumac. I took greek yogurt and strained it (let it sit on cheesecloth over a bowl) overnight. Then I mixed it with fresh chopped basil, mint, and dill--maybe a tablespoon of each, maybe more (I didn't measure!). I squeezed the juice of a lemon in there. I added 1 clove of roasted garlic and 1 clove of raw garlic, both minced fine. I added a cucumber, skinned, seeded, and chopped fine. Then a few tablespoons of good olive oil. Last, I sprinkled sumac over the whole thing--maybe 1/4 of a teaspoon? Maybe less. Served it with pita bread. It was a big hit.

I thought sumac was poison. Perhaps there's more than one kind.

I thought sumac was poison, too! Someone please explain the difference!

The deli I used to work at in the Berkshires had a Lebanese potato salad that used lots of sumac.

I don't know the recipe, but it was made with an oil and vinegar dressing, and pretty simple beyond that. Maybe just sumac, salt and pepper and scallions?

It was delicious, and great for summer since it's mayo-free.

Sumac is to Poison Sumac as Oak trees are to Poison Oak. Poison SUmac is called that because its leaves resemble the real, non-poisonous kind.

Lucky, lucky, lucky! I agree with the suggestion of fattouch salad, it's so delicious.

Sumac is the best!! It's a must on Lahmacun (Armenian Pizza) and we use it a lot on dishes like stuffed zucchinis (dolmas) along with garlic yogurt. I put it on hummus too!

Funny, I just purchased my first bit of sumac this week! What a timely post!

Apparently, most of the sumac in this country is not poison sumac; the ones with the white berries are poisonous, reddish berries, not. Those are edible.

I did this recipe a couple of times:

http://www.chow.com/recipes/10181-sumac-chicken-with-bread-salad

I don't do the bread salad anymore, but I love the chicken! Fattouch is also great!

Sumac is delicious as a condiment on the table -- particularly sprinkled on rice. It lends a subtle, citrusy flavor.

I first tried sumac when it was sprinkled on top of salmon, then baked... absolutely delicious!

It's wonderful sprinkled on eggs! Yum!

Sumac is awesome! It works as an acidic note anywhere you might need the brightness but don't need the liquid of citrus or vinegar. It blends in beautifully and always adds some extra oomph. I break it out when a dish just isn't coming together as I would otherwise like.

Open it fresh and you will be overwhelmed by the smell. {I mean this literally - some of the spice will jump out of the bottle and race down your nose & throat. This is why I bought it in the first place, such an aggressive little spice was sure to be helpful in the kitchen.}

For a great easy dinner I put a piece of pita in the bottom of a baking dish, thinly slice an onion toss it on the pita, drizzle it with olive oil, salt pepper and some sumac and then put a chicken leg/thigh quarter on top of that and add more oil, salt pepper and sumac and roast in the oven.

Mmmm, I love fattoush! I never knew sumac was the delicious extra oomph in that salad. (I must have missed that post.)

I love sumac and use it in all kinds of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean recipes. Here are a couple of examples, Greek Feta Parcels http://tinyurl.com/35wvkgl
and Pastitsio http://tinyurl.com/3x3apk3
Enjoy!

FATTOUSH!!!!!! cannot get enough in our house... eat it at least once a week.

I love to sprinkle it on my basmati rice.

Persians sprinkle it over basmati rice when having kabob ;)

Poison sumac has white berries. This sumac spice is made from the red-berried tree/bush things you often see in woodland areas. Their berries look like giant astillbe flowers.

There's a great Middle Eastern/Greek restaurant back home that serves piles of golden, crispy-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside fries liberally dusted with what I think is powdered sumac (the restaurant also has a very small grocery area where they sell imported stuff... like giant bags of sumac spice!). It tastes kind of lemony but also a little smoky/spicy. I love the stuff, but have never tasted it on anything but fries and have never used it at home.

P.S. Sumac berries can also be used to make sumac-ade, which is a lot like lemonade!