The setting: Your favorite Greek restaurant.
The characters: You, your mouth, and the appetizer.
The scene: You pile the crumbling feta and broiled tomatoes onto a wedge of pita and send the salty-tangy-crumbly concoction briskly mouthward.
And pause.
What's in this? And why is it always better than yours?
One word: Mastiha.
Harvested from trees on Chios Island in the Adriatic, mastiha (also known as mastic gum) tastes distinctly woodsy, with the barest hint of pistachio. It's long been a staple in Greek cuisine, but now it's making its way west, with mastiha-themed stores opening in Paris and New York.
On the island of Chios, mastiha is still harvested the old-fashioned way, by scoring the bark of the lentsik tree until the sap falls to the ground. Upon contact with the air, the sap hardens into oval-shaped crystals called "tears." Mysteriously, though the lentsik tree grows throughout Greece, it only "cries" as the natives say, in Chios.
Poetry. The Greeks. Long history there.
Mastiha tastes great with feta, apricots, pistachios, rose water, and dates. It's often used in milk desserts, where it pairs well with cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves.
Because mastiha is gummy, you can actually chew it. If you want to use it in cooking, however, it's best to pound it into a powder. (You can also buy it pre-powdered.) Whatever you're making, a small amount should take you where you need to go.
Thank the mastiha goddess at MastihaShop
or buy yourself some tears at
www.southernseason.com