Sumac is a wonderful spice – not the poisonous kind but lemony and nice! It is used in many Arab, Iranian and Turkish cuisines. I like to use it on roast chicken or roasted vegetables. They say you can also sprinkle it directly on salads, rice and hummus, which I have not yet tried.

My husband has to be on this crazy diet to cut down on his acid intake. He has had a constant cough that apparently if left unchecked, can turn into esophageal cancer. Yikes! Therefore I am not allowed to use any garlic, onions, peppers of any kind, lemons or any citrus. All the things that give recipes the real flavor! So I have been struggling to cook around all of this. Fresh ginger and herbs de Provence have become my new best friends and so has sumac! These are true “Spices 4 Life!”

Sumac is a beautiful purply red, coarse ground powder. I recommend a heavy sprinkling on a chicken before roasting. Check out my blog for the Roast Chicken recipe – www.lovethesecretingredient.net and sprinkle the sumac all over to coat. See the photo before and after cooking. So give it a go and  let me know what you think!

 

Mary F. Pisarkiewicz

About The Author

My name is Mary Frances. I am a designer, creative director, painter, wife, mother and cook. I own an internationally recognized, award-winning brand development and marketing communications firm in New York City, and am a graduate of Parsons School of Design. I especially love to cook and serve great food to make people content and happy. Hearing mmmm’s makes my heart soar. I grew up in suburban St. Louis, in Webster Groves, the youngest of six and the only girl. (Yes, that’s FIVE older brothers!) My mom was a great home cook, and she made sure that I could make a mean pie from scratch. After Parsons, I married, had two boys and moved from NYC to the NJ suburbs where I threw myself into cooking and entertaining. Now it’s time for me to share the great recipes, tips, stories and LOVE with you. The inspiration for LOVE – the secret ingredient www.lovethesecretingredient.net came from our youngest son when he wrote in a gift cookbook that the one ingredient that was ever-present in my meals was love. When you cook with LOVE, everything just tastes better.

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