Mastic

Mastic  or Masticha is the resin from the Pistacia Lentiscus tree. The trees are commercially cultivated for the purpose of harvesting mastic tears. The very best mastic is said to come from the south side of the Greek Island of Chios. In July and August the producers go out early in the mornings and make small slits in the bark to release the resin. The resin dries on the bark into a Clear, crystalline “tears” which are collected at the end of August, cleaned, sun dried, sorted, and sold. The tears are divided into two categories: immaculate otherwise known as dahtilidopetres or flintstones and the second rate softer, spotted ones referred to as kantiles or blisters.

The teardrops were the first version of chewing gum in Greece.  As you masticate, they soften into a firm, chewy mouthful with flavors of licorice and pine. Mastic has been utilized for a wide range of purposes such as a flavoring for alcohol, a spice, as toothpaste and breath fresheners, in cosmetics, dental fillings, natural adhesives, and varnish. Mastic has been found to have antibacterial and antifungal properties and is often used in holistic medicine to treat a variety of gastric ailments. Typically mastic is sold as teardrops although it can also be found as a paste or a powder. The teardrops must usually be ground to a fine powder, usually with sugar, in order to be used for culinary purposes.

High quality mastic has a slight edge of bitterness and a soft resiny flavor. Mastic may have hints of licorice and vanilla, it is a little reminiscent of Pledge, but softer and more subtle. It is used in various culinary applications from drinks to breads to desserts and ice creams. In Cyprus it is often paired with orange flower or rose water and served as a spoon sweet. It is a trendy ingredient at the moment, popping up in kitchens everywhere. We love the soft woodsy flavor and have played with a variety of applications from savory to sweet. Mastic works especially well with seafood and is a wonderful earthy counterpoint to sweet, briny oysters, succulent chewy cod,  and rich, delicate turbot.

Grinding the mastic drops can be a challenge. Cooking with resin can be hard on your stainless steel, months later I still haven't gotten all of sticky residue out of the pot from Alex's first experiment with mastic tears. So when we were shopping at Titan Foods in Astoria we were both excited to come across a mastic paste.  The one we picked up by Sarantis is made with Sugar, glucose syrup, E220 (a preservative; sulphur dioxide) and mastic. The combination of sugar and glucose means that paste is not overly sweet. It has been much easier to work with than the tears, and allowed us to really play with mastic in new ways. It's a very versatile ingredient and with the onset of Spring it seems like the perfect season for experimenting with its pine infused flavor.

Comments

[Yannis P.]

Hi from paris.
Happy to read that you use a greek product. its amazing to see the way you played with it. Its amazing your work. Unfortunatly i cant participate at yous lessons because of the distance. but i would like to some day.
Yannis P. aka "the greek"

[KC]

Apparently E220 is sulphur dioxide, used as a preservative.

http://www.food-info.net/uk/glossary/s.htm

[Elias]

I am very happy you found this amazing Greek product. I have been using masticha with ouzo to marinate scallops, which then I blow-torch to caramelise the outside but keep the inside raw. I lie them on top of a green apple, rocket and wallnut salad, with a simple lemon and olive oil dressing. heaven...

[konstantinos]

There are actual shops now in Greece that carry ONLY mastic products : http://www.mastihashop.gr/index_gr.htm

I think Alex will find a lot of different usefull products like mastic oil and mastic water as well as 3 or 4 different size of mastic. I am not sure but i believe Titan Foods carries these products as well so next time you stop by ask for them...
Also happy to see other Greeks looking at this blog hopefully some of them cooks ....

[artemis kohas]

wow! i am so intrigued by your caramelized yogurt and frozen mastiha dessert! i also love the scallop salad!

we are happy to announce that the first "mastihashop" has just opened in the USA. "mastihashop" is the official store of the Chios Mastiha Growers Association and carries everything you can imagine with mastiha! We have mastiha essential oil, flavoring, cooking powder, mastiha aqueous extract, cosmetics, packaged foods, gums, and a therapy line. The affiliation with the Growers Association ensures that the "mastihashop" products you purchase are made with the highest quality mastiha available.

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