Join Jody Gzhadawsot for Indigenous Food Friday as she shows you how she processes Staghorn Sumac. More information on Staghorn sumac's uses at www.mrinconran...
Hi from Czech Rep. I looooove sumac!!! Only now I found out how the tree looks like and can't believe we have this tree in the garden all my life and I didnt know about the spice! I just loved the colours and blossoms of the tree and even the Czech name škumpa for the tree. Now I find it strange we have never harvested it for sumac spice or for a lemonade at all, but now I will. Thank you for your lesson! Kind regards
Growing up in Michigan we have this growing abundantly in the wilderness. In boy scouts when I was a kid our handbooks had different vegetation that was useable. I learned to use it to make tea/sumaclade (lemonade). So I've always been fond of this plant, it's near and dear but I've never used it as a spice. I have a new adventure ahead of me!
I have one in my garden in Scotland, our family have had it for over 50 years, every few years we grown on a new one from the shoots that come up through the grass around it, it's very hardy, survives scottish weather with no problems
Same in the northern U.S.!! Huge thickets in our state parks. What a beautiful, almost tropical looking plant to have in our very own corner of the world
Growing up in the middle east we always use it as a spice to decorate different dishes or sprinkle it on top of our kebabs and rice which makes it so delicious
Yes very good I'm just Gathering Staghorn sumac for the very first time and I've made the lemonade. I'm keeping the red berries seeds dried in the oven low heat method. Wonderful channel to begin a new year for 2024 thank you happy Gathering and foraging for wild edibles. Watching from Canada🇨🇦🇺🇸🕊💓Nova Scotia
Stag horn grows everywhere on my 2 acres in Kawartha Lakes Ontario. It’s almost invasive but we love the tree and feel honoured to have it. I’m about to go get me some for spice.
Hi to you, we use sumac a lot in the middle east area to prepare our food specially the mix called Zaatar ( a mix of Thyme, sumac, salt, roasted sesame, nuts, spices) . My advice to you : Use a very powerful coffee grinder to mill the sumac's grains...greetings
Do you find that the grains/seeds have the same taste when ground through a coffee grinder? I'm contemplating if it is worth my time to do it that way, versus removing the husk and discarding the seeds
@@tavvy9861 The taste of finely ( powdered ) sumac is just amazing , we used to finely mill sumac especially that the modern professional coffee millers contain a stone grinding discs, those modern miller will turn the most hard dried food ingredient into a real powder like wheat flour.
@@briankraemer7375 We grind the sumac grains all by using a very powerful grinder that leave it totally as a powder then it's ready to be consumed in food preparations.
I had always been buying Sumac from Middle Eastern Food Stores to sprinkle on Salads. And I also had been admiring the gorgeous Fall red color of these Staghorn Sumac trees for years; my jaw just dropped seeing this video to find that this wild plant is the source of our favorite Sumac powder. Will not buy Sumac from stores any longer. Thank you so much.
This is the video I’ve been searching for! I’m in northern Minnesota and recently learned all the benefits of this beautiful tree in our yard. Thank you!
Sitting here processing fresh picked sumac berries... watching You Tube just like you said. 😅 We have it growing all around us and I tincture some in 100 proof vodka, put some into our own honey... and dry it and such for cooking or winter beverages ~ thank you.
I was introduced to sumac many years ago as a seasoning at a middle eastern restaurant and can't wait to harvest the sumac I recently discovered in my mother in law's backyard!! Thank you for your video.
I assumed that sumac grew in the Middle East, never knew that it's grown right here in the U.S. I never tried sumac before but since watching this video I will give it a try. Thank you for sharing.
My landlady dug up and brought home a sumac a few years ago and now we have babies popping up everywhere. We live in Arizona. I can't wait to harvest the beautiful blooms and create some dishes with it and lemonade. Thanks for sharing how you harvest this awesome tree.
Just a clarifying comment: it sounds like you are saying Halic acid, but the sour flavor is from Malic acid. (Halic or halogen acids are toxic to mammals) I enjoyed watching you process your berries and felt you got a lot of product for the effort! Some don't go through the effort of removing seed, but I think the process you use would yield a more refined end product and spice.
You can but it might be a bit bitter- you can just add a bit more maple syrup or sweetener. If you give the berries a good pinch and then taste your fingers it should taste very citrusy when they're ready.
recently found out about Sumac - it is great for acid balancing cooked dishes in place of citrus or vinegars and adds brightness to my bean dishes. Haven't tried the lemonade yet but will give it a go!
Thanks so much for the excellent step-by-step demonstration of processing staghorn sumac for spice! Just what I was looking for--best RU-vid demo on this that I could find! I'm subscribing. Love the foraged and indigenous food content.
I grabbed two for Summacade earlier today. Now I need to harvest and dry them as well. I bet they add a wonderful lemon flavor in teas and would be beautiful in there as well.
I have just learned about sumac as a spice. I live in rural Ontario and we have it everywhere around here. Will be trying to make this this fall. Thanks!
I am just finding your channel. Thank you so much for sharing. I love sumac but due to life I haven’t done much with it. I am from Oklahoma and I have a dream for sumac and it’s beneficial superfood qualities. 😇even you can use the leaves in moderation.
Just started getting into foraging. There are a few of these near my work in PA. There is also some smooth sumac growing at my house, but no fruit yet. Looking forward to getting some of the staghorn, might plant some of the seeds in relatively nearby area so I can forage closer. Thanks for vid :)
@@BossLadyAnish I made the mistake of picking blackberries from roadside once 😑 😂 I learned quickly. Before then, I didn't even realize they were doing it because I'd never actually seen it done.
Oh wow, this is way better than when i tries to use water to separate the berries from the stems. More time consuming but way better, thanks for the tip! Subbed.
I just recently heard about the uses for sumac and am anxious to try. Thank you for this video. Tho I may have a bit of a late harvest I’m giving it a try. (Nothing to lose) We have a wooded lot and there is a whole area of endless sumac bushes. Also having someone tap maple trees in our yard next year so I suspect we’ll receive a bit of the bounty there too. Maybe a swap?! 🤷🏼♀️
I think most of the sour malic acid. Malic acid is a mild acid that is also found in very ripe grapes. It does not have the bite that citric acid, tantric acid or acetic acid has. Cheers
Hello from Canada. Last year I harvested some sumac, like what you've got there, and dried it. There's not much, I just wanted to try it. But I was afraid to use it because I knew there was also poison sumac. Now that I know the difference, (thank you), I can go ahead and use it!
I wish you would have talked about what you like to use it for. Or if you had specific family recipes that call for sumac. I'm thinking many people may not know much about it. It would be very helpful for them.
Thank you. Useful vid. I think it's malic acid. I especially appreciated that from watching your video I realised you can make 'sumac lemonade' from the dried berries. So I don't need to stress to make and enjoy from a freshly picked harvest
Nice video. I made this tea. To me, it tasted like the Lipton lemon tea that you buy in a can. It was good. I never thought about saving them though. Thanks.
Aiy hiy!! I just this year discovered a patch of staghorn sumac in my area in central Alberta, Canada. I didn't know that it could hand the climate here, though it's in a very sheltered and warm microclimate.
The seeds are super strong and stay in tact, so they're easily sifted out. You can use the seeds for making beanbags, cold/hot packs, or other filler. Great question!
If I can see a caterpillar(s) are making a home I usually leave it for them and move on to the next. Of course you can't always get away with not taking some guests home with you, buy after I clip a cluster, gently shake to try to send any guests away, then before processing I rinse and let air dry.
some videos I've watched never mentioned washing the berries. Given they grow by the roadside and are exposed to vehicle exhaust, I would prefer to wash them, but no one says how best to do it so they don't take forever to dry. Suggestions?
I suggest to never harvest along roadsides especially sumac because washing with water isn't advised. If there's webs or debris on the drupes I use a soft paint brush to wipe away. Other than that I don't "wash" them.
Thank you for this video! Exactly what I was looking for. Approximately how long did it take to dehydrate in your oven? Thanks in advance for any feedback.
The house I moved into has an ornamental sumac in the back yard. The cobs look just like staghorn sumac, but the leaves are lacier looking. Is this okay to process?
Yes- you probably have smooth sumac. Harvesting time for the drupes are the same, roll a berry between your fingers and then if your finger tastes citrusy they're ready. 🩷
I love to eat Sumac@Sumak since I am used to eat Turkish, Balkan, and Middle Eastern foods, especially for the ingredients of the Salad. Do you all reckon the tree is suitable to grow in the tropical region? If so, I want to do it👍 Thank you very much for valuable video.
I must have missed it, did you already steep the berries you processed in the blender? Or should berries used for lemonade be considered "used" and disposed of?
Hey! Great vid. How is the sumac prepared as lemonade, do you have a ratio you use? It seems like it is potent and not much is needed to make a gallon for example
I just pack a gallon jar or sun tea jug with the berry's (stalks and all, I rinse them first and that's it). Cover with water and set in the sun for a couple hours or let soak over night on the counter. Sift out the berries (keeping them on the stalk helps this process). Add maple syrup, agave, or sweetener to your liking and enjoy!
You don't want to wash the stripes because you'll just wash the acid away. Just inspect and if there's any spider webs, buggies, or debris just gently brush off. Hope this helped!♥️
Thanks! Confusing, because you (and others) say the sumac has been washed and dried in the video. Do you ever find worms in the sumac? If so, is it still usable-any suggestions?@@BossLadyAnish
What time of years is good to harvest? And I seen some that looks a little red and some of it was brown. Does that mean I missed harvest? Or not ready to harvest? TIA
Hi there! Thanks for your video. Im having teouble getting the little hairs to go through my seive: maybe the holes arent big enough? They seem to really stick to the seeds. Hard to separate. Any tricks appreciated!
You may have not processed them long enough in your food processor to losses everything up. It also is a long process to filter through the sieve. I put on a good podcast or have an audiobook going to help keep my mind active.
There’s even some of these trees growing up here in Toronto. I picked a few or maybe a bunch because I wanted to fill the container I took with me and was getting tired of looking for haws. Should either one be refrigerated? If you have a Facebook I could send you a picture of the ones I picked off the tree 🌳 I’ve got loads of music to listen to or RU-vid videos to watch.
@@BossLadyAnish I take it you mean in the same cupboard as your other spices. Hopefully having been refrigerated for 10 hours hasn’t hurt them. Will a Tupperware container suffice, because that’s what I’ve been keeping them in. Lastly for now, should haws a.k.a hawthorn berries be prepared the same way?
@@ErgortanguperPolice Tupperware works great, and yes, n the cupboard is fine. For hawthorn berries I just dry them then crush with a mortar and pestle. Then store in a jar (Tupperware is fine).
Is there something else that can be used to mash it up, because I don’t think I own a mortar and pestle or mochi pestle as the original Animal Crossing mistranslated it.
Do you take the soft velvety hairs off? I found some really ripe sumac. Tangy taste on them. I didn't wash them but removed the berries, processed in a processor and allowed that to sit out overnight. Then I sifted and got the sumac powder but it is still soft and fluffy from the velvety hairs. Should I have removed the soft velvety hairs, from berries? This is my first time.
You did this perfectly! The processed sumac will feel velvety and soft. It's the phenolic acid that's on the hairs that give it the citrusy flavor so don't remove those. You did this perfectly! Enjoy! ❤️
@@BossLadyAnish something else. The berries themselves tasted tangy. I tasted a few before cutting from trwe. The processed soft velvety powder tastes tangy too but the smell isn't there. In fact, I'd say it smells moldy. Not normal right? I imagine that when processing in the food processor, once removing the lid it would smell good but mine doesn't. Should it also smell tangy once processed? Thank you for answering my question. Very much appreciated.
@@K.I.M.7777 it shouldn't smell moldy at all. It should smell slightly tangy/fruity. I wonder if some of the berries were moldy prior to processing, even a little bit of mold can sour everything unfortunately. I always gently rinse the berries and inspect for mold/spider webs but occasionally some sneak in. I would toss out that batch and try again. You're on the right track though!! Keep going. ❤️
Hello I'm Kathy from West Virginia. I do believe that I have a tree of that on my place. I'm afraid to go harvest any I'm afraid that it is the wrong tree. Other then lemon aid and spicy up fishes. Can you use is as a herbal tea? If so what is it good for? Do you also sell it or any other herbs? Thanks for the video please have a great day. Thanks from Kathy in West Virginia 😂🤣😂
You can always look it up online to run a leaf and Berry comparison to confirm what you have. Remember white berries are not Staghorn or smooth sumac. You'll want Ted berries that grow upwards in peaks. When you squeeze the berries and then taste your fingers you should have a citrus taste. I use it for seasoning on eggs, corn mush, meat dishes... you can also put whole or processed berries in your hot tea mixture as well. Loaded with vitamin c and it helps ease sore throat pain.
I'm a lazy guy. Would it work if I just simmer the whole seeds or the pulverized ones in water to extract the essence and then freeze the extract in ice cubes for later usage?
