Many years ago, during my "eat like Euell Gibbons of 'Stalking the Wild
Asparagus' fame" period, I made a Sumac drink by just boiling the red seed pods,
cooling and straining. It was gorgeous looking- just like dark raspberry Kool
Aid! But it was extremely sour, and required the addition of huge amounts of
sugar to make it palatable. I'm sure it's loaded with all kinds of antioxidants
and other beneficial goodies, if one can get past the sour taste without adding
sugar. Perhaps our Paleo forefathers mixed it with honey when they were lucky
enough to stumble upon enough of it. Who knows.

Maddy Mason
Hudson Valley, NY

In a message dated 2/8/2004 10:22:34 AM Eastern Standard Time, Tom Bridgeland
<[log in to unmask] writes:
On Sunday, February 8, 2004, at 09:04  AM, krosenth wrote:

>  "sumac."  Of course, it is not the poison sumac we find in the U.S.
> by the side of the road

Sumac is a common roadside plant in the midwest. It is not poisonous,
it is reddish colored.

Poison Sumac is something quite different, it is actually a type of
poison ivy growing in a bush form.