Mysterious plant (edible)
June 26, 2012 • Category: Main Dish
Do you know or care to guess what this is? Hint: It has been mentioned a lot lately in food magazines; trendy, you could say. 
Comments
23 Comments • Comments Feed
Easy Middle Eastern Recipes
alia says:
sumac 🙂
On June 26, 2012 at 6:01 am
Beirut Soul Kitchen says:
sumac
On June 26, 2012 at 6:11 am
Linda says:
Sumac
On June 26, 2012 at 6:13 am
John says:
Yesssss I know ..this is Semmaa’.
On June 26, 2012 at 6:17 am
Samantha Angela says:
I’m guessing sumac?
I know there are a few different varieties of it but I don’t know if all of them are edible, but it does look like sumac that grows around here.
On June 26, 2012 at 6:28 am
MyLittleExpatKitchen says:
I have no idea what this is but I’m incredibly curious to find out!!
I love these posts of yours with the strange and unique ingredients, Joumana. You have become my produce encyclopedia 🙂
Magda
On June 26, 2012 at 7:34 am
MyLittleExpatKitchen says:
oops, sumac?? I just thought about it 🙂
On June 26, 2012 at 7:34 am
Reinventing Nadine says:
it is Sumac..we had a tree in our yard in Lebanon
On June 26, 2012 at 10:21 am
Nadji says:
Je donne ma langue au chat.
Beaucoup ont répondu sumac, je ne connais ce dernier que sous forme de poudre.
A bientôt
On June 26, 2012 at 12:40 pm
Laura@silkroadgourme says:
Agree with all of the above – sumac. I recently re-analyzed some Mesopotamian tablets and found that one of the missing ingredients was sumac – so sumac may be trendy, but its got an ancient historical pedigree as well. . .
On June 26, 2012 at 1:13 pm
T.W. Barritt says:
Very unusual! I will admit I’ve never seen anything like it. The suggestion of sumac makes sense, but I’ve never actually seen sumac.
On June 26, 2012 at 2:57 pm
Christine @ Fresh says:
Well since everyone else says sumac, I’ll join the crowd. I hope you show more mysterious foods on your blog.
On June 26, 2012 at 9:07 pm
sare says:
Sumac, of course. I’ll pick or buy some to make my own sumac powder this year.
On June 27, 2012 at 5:42 am
usha says:
Most certainly….sumac.
Else, it’s some kind of fungus..ha ha !
On June 27, 2012 at 9:05 am
Suha says:
Joumana, I love your website and your blogs.. I am a Lebanese American too and live in Alexandria, VA. I am a foodie lover tooo and a creative cook, and I am pursueing my culinary diploma too. I saw the Sumac wild plant picture and was sooo refreshed, I love this versatile condiment. Glad you talked about the new book of Salma Abdelnoor. I am leaving to Beirut soon and will look for it in the book stores.
Thank you for enlightening us all the time.. Good luck in your pursuits.
On June 27, 2012 at 2:01 pm
Joumana says:
@Suha: Thank you so much for your warm praise! Enjoy your time in Beirut!
On June 27, 2012 at 2:07 pm
Kathleen says:
Goodness gracious. I’ve always assumed sumac is a dried leaf. Wonderful information. I would love to see how it grows if you have the chance.
On June 27, 2012 at 4:00 pm
d says:
Having looked up Sumac this is obviously what it is, but I have never heard of it before!! Diane
On June 28, 2012 at 3:23 am
Nuts about food says:
Had never seen a sumac plant!
On June 28, 2012 at 4:10 am
Kristin says:
I did not know that this is what sumac looked like!
On June 29, 2012 at 7:09 am
Susan says:
It’s funny, we have sumac bushes growing in many places along the highways here that turn beautiful flame-red in the fall. Sadly, I had never heard of using sumac as a food until reading your blog.
On July 4, 2012 at 4:05 pm
Joumana says:
@Susan: Be careful, the sumac that grows in the US is deemed POISONOUS!!!!!!!!
On July 6, 2012 at 1:24 am
JeanneKempthorne says:
No, staghorn sumac is not poisonous.in addition to using it as a sour spice the buds can be soaked to make a tart beverage which can be sweetened like lemonade.
On November 6, 2013 at 8:05 pm