Natural Healing Sea Buckthorn
(Page 4 of 12)
November/December 2002
By Gina Mohammed, Ph.D.
Soothing medicine
RELATED CONTENT
Any plant product that’s touted as “nature’s miracle healer” and “medicine chest in a bottle”, as t...
The lungs—along with the bronchial tubes, throat, sinuses, and nose—are a major detoxification pat...
This season when the leaves show brilliant colors, none are more attractive in my eyes than those o...
By preserving herbs with a vinegar you can make great vinaigrette recipes....
Sumac leaves and berries are classified as astringent and cooling. Certain Native American and Canadian Indian tribes used sumac to treat bladder, digestive, reproductive, and respiratory ailments; infections; injuries; stomachaches; arrow wounds; and more. The Chippewa Indians of North America made a decoction of sumac flowers to treat gas, indigestion, and other digestive upsets. The Iroquois used sumac as a laxative, diuretic, expectorant, liver aid, and in countless other applications. The powdered bark and dried berries were allegedly combined with tobacco and smoked during peace pipe ceremonies. The inner bark was also used to treat hemorrhoids.
Early pioneers used the berries to reduce fevers, and they steeped and strained the berries and thickened the mixture with honey to yield a soothing cough syrup. Some transformed the berries into wine. Others used the root to produce an emetic tea (to induce vomiting), the bark to make dye, and the leaves to relieve symptoms of asthma.
Sumac berries contain malic acid, which possess antifungal properties and putative anti-fibromyalgic activity; tannic acid, which is present in tea and wine and is known for its astringent activity; and gallic acid, a white crystalline compound used in dyes, in photography, and in ink and paper manufacture.
The vinegar tree
Prior to the importation of lemons in Europe, the ancient Romans allegedly relied on sumac berries for a sour taste. Throughout the Middle East, even today, many people use sumac as a seasoning and the primary souring agent in cooking or as a decorative garnish at the table. The berries are dried, lightly dry-roasted, ground to a powder, and sifted to remove the hard, inedible seeds and soft, downy fuzz. Fresh berries are soaked in water for fifteen to twenty minutes, or entire seed/berry heads (with attached fuzz) are pounded in water, then drained and squeezed through cheesecloth to extract their ruby juices and antioxidants. The powder keeps—far longer than lemons—-at room temperature; the juice may be refrigerated or frozen. A squeeze of sumac juice can replace lemon in your favorite recipes, particularly if you suffer from citrus allergies.
Ground sumac may be rubbed onto meat kabobs prior to grilling or sprinkled over raw onions, casseroles, or cooked vegetables. Stirred into yogurt, sumac makes a piquant sauce for lamb kabobs. Sumac juice adds zest to citrus-free salad dressings or rice pilafs.
Zatar or Zahtar, a blend of ground sumac, thyme, and sesame seeds, is used to flavor labni—a cream cheese– like spread made from drained yogurt—or sprinkled over meat and vegetables, or blended with oil and smeared on bread in Turkey and North Africa. Look for Zatar in Middle Eastern markets or online.
Page:
<< Previous 1 |
2 |
3 | 4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
Next >>