Sumac Spice Seasoning
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John All right, there’s a cooking. This is culinary.
Adam Does it include cheese?
John No.
Adam That’s too bad.
John But this is a culinary idea people should recognize and consider. And this is a product you get at Middle Eastern stores mostly. You can find it pretty widespread where I’m at, but it’s harder to find. You might have to mail order it. And it’s a product called Sumac. And it comes from the Middle East. And it’s a spice seasoning. And it is the secret ingredient, or was for years, I was turned on to it by a store owner in Oakland. It was exotic stuff they sold there, Colorado’s, which is since lost its mojo. And this was the secret ingredient in Bongo Burgers.
Adam Bongo Burgers?
John And like, if you’re going to make a quarter pounder.
Adam Hold on, hold on, hold on. I’ve never heard of Bongo Burgers.
John Bongo Burgers was a famous chain in Berkeley of these delicious burgers. By chain, I mean three stores.
Adam Okay.
John And it was the secret ingredient. And then I started using it in my hamburger mix. And you use about a tablespoon, well, between a teaspoon and a tablespoon full of sumac in the burger mix. You just mix it in with the hamburger. If you put other seasoning in there, that’s fine too. But the sumac really adds a dimensionality to a burger. But it’s also good to just be shaken because it comes in shakers sometimes. Sadiq makes a shaker full of the stuff. And you shake it on the sliced beef. And it’s quite good. Is really good with flank steak. But you can put it in all kinds of things. And it adds a very unusual lemony flavor that is just delicious. And I would say people that start using it just in their everyday cooking, they find a lot of uses for it. It’s very tasty.
Adam Sumac. And can we get this on Amazon?
John I don’t know, but probably. I’d be stunned if you couldn’t.
Adam Sumac. I think I’ve heard of sumac. Where would I have heard of this?
John You might have heard from poison sumac.
Adam Oh, well.
John Which has got nothing to do with this. That’s not the kind we want.
Adam We don’t want the poison sumac.
John This is a dried berry, a screwball berry that’s dried and powdered. It’s a fabulous addition to anyone’s cuisine repertoire.