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New Jersey has a bevy of delicious wild edibles hiding right under our noses. The biggest secret, though, is the one blossoming on trees throughout North Jersey yards, parks, and open spaces this summer.
Sumac, which has a frightening name but scary good flavor, pops in the Garden State from mid to late summer. You may have passed a sumac tree hundreds of times and seen its cones of vibrant red seeds at the ends of branches fanned with fern-like leaves. This summer, snip a few and spice up your cooking with this versatile, unique summer spice.
With a little preparation, fresh sumac can be dried and cultivated into a spice that lifts avocado toast, popcorn, fried eggs, chili, kebabs and more to new flavor heights. Its acidic, lemony flavor makes it an ideal spice for a dry rub and you can steep it alone for a tea that tastes just like lemonade.
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Here’s a primer on how to harvest sumac in New Jersey and what to do with it.
What is sumac?
Sumac is a flowering tree or shrub (there are several varieties) that produces drupe clusters covered in tiny hairs that can be harvested for culinary purposes, holistic healing applications or as dyes. The most common sumac we have in the region is the staghorn sumac, with dense, fuzzy, conical clusters of its fruit that start bright red in the early summer and fade to brown over the season.
Sumac, lest you be scarred by memories of itchy summers in your childhood, is different from poison sumac, a woodland shrub that contains a resin that makes your skin crawl. Though they share some genetic lineage, sumac (the culinary kind) is in the same family as cashews, mangoes and pistachios.
The hairy fruits on sumac trees have been harvested for centuries. Because it contains a high amount of malic acid, the fruit has an electric, tangy, acidic flavor akin to fresh lemon zest. Dried and ground sumac shows up in Middle Eastern cuisine in falafel, on hummus and kebabs and in a variety of other dishes.
My favorite (in part because it’s the easiest use of fresh sumac) application is in tea. Because it concentrates the citric flavor of the spice, folks sometimes call it sumacade, nature’s Kool-Aid or, somewhat problematically, Indian lemonade – in fact, indigenous people in the Midwest made sumac tea for centuries.
Harvesting sumac in New Jersey
Let’s put this disclaimer on foraging first: Among other precautions, you should only forage on your land, the land of those you know or land you have express permission to forage on because 1) it’s illegal to trespass on others’ property and to forage in most state and federal parks, and 2) You know what potentially nasty amendments like fertilizer were put on the land. Even tree-grown fruits can attract nasty chemicals.
If that’s the prologue to foraging advice, here’s point one: don’t eat anything you can’t identify with 100% certainty. Fortunately, staghorn sumac is easily identifiable, but if you’re unsure, ask an expert or reference reputable field guides.
OK, assuming you take all those precautions, find sumac clusters that are bright, vibrant red and which are slightly sticky to the touch. You can sniff or lick your finger after handling a cluster to test the freshness and acidity of the sumac.
Sumac is fresh from mid-July to September typically, and it’s best not to cultivate them after rainfall, which washes away its flavorful compound. While the fruits will fade to brown over the weeks, you’ll still be able to get some of its essence in teas or spice blends later in its season.
Snip the whole cone off at the branch with some pruning shears or sturdy scissors and prepare to use or store for dehydration immediately.
What to do with sumac
Sumac tea is delicious (it really does taste like lemonade) and is high in vitamin C. I like to make it as a sun tea, which means I use the natural heat of the sun to hasten the steeping of the tea in its container. Here’s how to make it:
First, pick a bunch of clusters and lightly crush the berries to release their essence. Next, drop them in a clear pitcher of cold water and place in the sun for 6-10 hours. You can also skip the sun-steeping part and let the tea come together overnight or longer. Then, strain the tea through a cheesecloth or coffee filter until the liquid is free from hairs and seeds. Add honey, lemon or sugar to sweeten or amplify its flavor, or don’t – it’s great with no amendments at all, too.
To maximize your sumac harvest, you can turn the berries into a spice blend that’ll last you through the winter.
Essentially what you need to do is remove the spice on the outside of the seeds from the seeds themselves. To make this easier, dehydrate the berries by letting them rest in a cool place for up to two weeks or, if you’re in a hurry for some reason, place on a baking sheet and throw them in an oven set on its lowest temperature for a few hours. As with steeping sumac for tea, heat kills flavor and nutrients, so be careful.
Once the berries are ready to manipulate, place them in a spice grinder or blender and pulse. The objective here is to pull the red dust away from the seeds, which you can also accomplish (although with more effort) by placing the seeds in a colander and beating them with a spoon until the coating is removed. Once the separation happens, pour the mixture through a sieve until only the red dust remains and store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place.
Matt Cortina is a food reporter for NorthJersey.com/The Record. Reach him at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Harvest this unique, tangy, local spice in North Jersey this summer
