Anybody know where can I buy sumac?

TravellingAbuela

I have been looking for sumac for an Egyptian recipe I want to try but not having much luck! I have tried Asda, Sainsbury's and a local large Asian supermarket but none of them stock it. I found it on Amazon at about £2.50 for a small jar but p&p is £3.99! :eek: I refuse to pay that. Anybody any ideas?

Swan_2

TravellingAbuela wrote: »

I have been looking for sumac for an Egyptian recipe I want to try but not having much luck! I have tried Asda, Sainsbury's and a local large Asian supermarket but none of them stock it. I found it on Amazon at about £2.50 for a small jar but p&p is £3.99! :eek: I refuse to pay that. Anybody any ideas?

some Sainsbury's do have it, but I guess it depends on the size of the store & its location

was it a far eastern/Chinese supermarket you visited? if you have any Indian/middle eastern groceries locally they're much more likely to stock it

is it an integral part of the dish? or a garnish?

TravellingAbuela

The Asian supermarket serves our Pakistani/Bangladeshi community. They stock hundreds of spices (many I have never heard of!) but not sumac! Unfortunately we don't have any Middle Eastern type shops nearby as that was my first thought.

The sumac is for a marinade and I don't really want to substitute anything else!

kiera123_2

You can buy 50g on eBay for £1.89

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Food-Drink-/14308/i.html?_sop=15&_nkw=sumac

Swan_2

TravellingAbuela wrote: »

The Asian supermarket serves our Pakistani/Bangladeshi community. They stock hundreds of spices (many I have never heard of!) but not sumac! Unfortunately we don't have any Middle Eastern type shops nearby as that was my first thought.

The sumac is for a marinade and I don't really want to substitute anything else!

oh that's a pity, the shop I get mine from from has Pakistani/Bangladeshi & middle Eastern & African supplies

I was thinking if it was for a garnish you'd get away with mild paprika for colour & some lemon juice for flavour, but that won't work for a marinade

when do you need it for? just in case someone can think of a reasonable place to get some


EDIT ... there you go, post #4 ... don't know why I didn't think of that, I get stuff from ebay myself :doh:

Callie22

I've seen it in both of my local branches of Adsa, on the World Foods aisle in the Middle-Easterny bit.

TravellingAbuela

kiera123 wrote: »

You can buy 50g on eBay for £1.89

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Food-Drink-/14308/i.html?_sop=15&_nkw=sumac

You're a star kiera! Have just ordered for delivery 11th/12th. Thank you!:T

Edwardia

Greenfields is the brand I use, mine came from a shop off Edgware Road but they do have a website https://www.greenfieldsuk.co.uk and I've found all their stuff to be very good.

Clowance

While we are looking for stockists does anyone know any stockists for Aniseed - the seeds that is, for a sicilian recipe cake. Tried an Asian supermarket but no good, they only had fennel seeds. Online the postage is ridiculous.

Swan_2

Clowance wrote: »

While we are looking for stockists does anyone know any stockists for Aniseed - the seeds that is, for a sicilian recipe cake. Tried an Asian supermarket but no good, they only had fennel seeds. Online the postage is ridiculous.

try ebay here are a few that turned up with a search for 'aniseed whole -rat' (there's a rat poison that's aniseed scented, hence the -rat, nothing sinister)


thanks to kiera123 for jogging my failing memory

Edwardia

Or you could, depending on recipe, chuck in a slug of Pernod, Ricard, Pastis or Ouzo