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Food Post Just Because
Nov. 1st, 2010 05:26 pmIt looks like marshmallow cream and tastes like pine needles mixed with church incense. It's called mastic preserves and it's out of this world. I mean that in a good way.
Mastic gum, one of the original chewing gums, is a staple of Mediterranean cooking and confections. It gives Turkish ice cream its famous chewy texture and imparts a haunting flavor to sweets like Turkish Delight. It also goes into incense, perfumes, and other things that you might use fragrant tree sap for. :)
I have long cherished fond memories of some mastic-flavored "Greek Delight" I acquired as a kid, and I was thrilled to find a local import shop-- a wondrous pan-Mediterranean place, a true relic of hospitality where the proprietor treats you like he's genuinely honored to have you spending your money in his establishment-- that had a jar of the stuff, mixed into sugar syrup so it's opaque, white, and textured like soft nougat. I also picked up some truly amazing cardamom-laced tea (from Tetley!), candied chestnuts and a nice quince preserves. And a very good meal.
I've been eating the mastic preserves by the spoonful. I have no idea what to put it on other than maybe wafers, like Carlsbad Oblaten. It doesn't really work on bread or most cookies. But there's nothing else like it anywhere, I'm sure.
Mastic gum, one of the original chewing gums, is a staple of Mediterranean cooking and confections. It gives Turkish ice cream its famous chewy texture and imparts a haunting flavor to sweets like Turkish Delight. It also goes into incense, perfumes, and other things that you might use fragrant tree sap for. :)
I have long cherished fond memories of some mastic-flavored "Greek Delight" I acquired as a kid, and I was thrilled to find a local import shop-- a wondrous pan-Mediterranean place, a true relic of hospitality where the proprietor treats you like he's genuinely honored to have you spending your money in his establishment-- that had a jar of the stuff, mixed into sugar syrup so it's opaque, white, and textured like soft nougat. I also picked up some truly amazing cardamom-laced tea (from Tetley!), candied chestnuts and a nice quince preserves. And a very good meal.
I've been eating the mastic preserves by the spoonful. I have no idea what to put it on other than maybe wafers, like Carlsbad Oblaten. It doesn't really work on bread or most cookies. But there's nothing else like it anywhere, I'm sure.
