Sumac adds a tart pop garnish to your healthy and holiday dishes with a slightly tangy or lemon taste… it’s the new paprika. It’s great for the holidays when you’re looking for dazzle colors. ✨
And one I celebrated as a restaurant event planner for a Lebanese restaurant group during the holiday party season.
It’s also a health secret add that you’ll learn about in this article.
Sumac has a pretty color purplish red contrast to light colors and drinks like sumac-ale instead of sumac-ade that the Native Indians.
Sumac means “dark red.” It belongs to the cashew and pistachio family. The red berries are good for nature as it’s food for wildlife.
And that’s from the color of berries it comes from rich in food-as-medicine anti-inflammatory effects.
The darker color was fun to use to decorate hummus platters or otherwise boring white color dips and beige platters. And one spice you can take home to holiday casseroles.
It’s a spice staple in dressings like a pomegrantate-sumac dressing for Fattoush salad and za’atar autumn dishes. Or olive oil and sumac.
…Sumac can substitute tangy lemon that’s seasonal for summer dishes and brightening.
It can be used in recipes where you don’t want to add liquid like lemon.
It actually was used in Sicily and Europe before lemons were brought over from the Middle East.
The small specks of dark purplish red color stands out from the crowd of spices in your kitchen rack. You’ll find it more easily in a sea of spices.
It’s a key ingredient in a za’atar spice blend that you can make at home. It commonly has sesame seeds, sumac, and thyme. You can easily bake healthy za’atar crackers.
The spice blend goes well in pizzas and breads or foods you would add oregano to.
So now that we know how it lifts tastes and color, the health benefits are worth the small effort to sprinkle.
If food-as-medicine had a profile, sumac would healthy fit in as it’s loaded with vitamins and minerals like magnesium that most of us don’t daily get enough of. 3 grams or .68 teaspoon is recommended daily (or 1/2 teaspoon).
It is good for health including reducing systolic blood pressure (when blood is pumping) and insulin health.
So if you have high blood pressure or pre-diabetic, something to consider not just for adding zhugh color or taste, but for improving possible health outcomes.
It’s a super antioxidant with Vitamin C and A, that’s good for neutralizing free radicals and good for every body with a heart beat. 🫀
With B-6 vitamins, it also can help breast milk production and is a food source of iron, calcium, and zinc that’s needed with pregnancy, so good to ask your doctor.
Studies show that it can help weight loss.
And from a practical standpoint, adding the purplish spice to your stash can be a reminder for eating healthy foods.