It’s a running joke with my husband and me.
I say shoo-make.
He says soo-mak.
Clearly he’s wrong and just enjoys aggravating me. Oh, I know, I know. If you look up the “official” pronunciation it says that either soo-mak or shoo-mak is acceptable. There’s no mention of tagging “make” on the end. But the folks from Merriam-Webster probably haven’t spent a ton of time in Appalachia, so they can be forgiven.
In addition to offering endless fun with pronunciation, sumac is lovely and tasty. I long thought the velvety red tips were flowers, but I finally looked it up and turns out that’s the fruit–or drupes. You can steep them in hot water, strain the liquid, then sweeten it to make a sort of lemonade (tartness is due to malic acid). The drupes can also be dried and ground to make a tart spice (a key ingredient in za’atar).
Critters will also eat sumac, although I don’t think it’s their favorite. I got tickled by this line from the USDA data sheet about the plant: “The germination of sumac seeds is enhanced by their passage through the digestive system of rabbits, ring-necked pheasants, and quail.”
Indeed.
While I NEVER recommend going out into your backyard and eating anything you aren’t 100% certain is safe, I will set your mind to rest (at least a little) about staghorn and poison sumac. The poison kind has white berries and grows in really wet habitats so it’s somewhat easy to avoid. Which you should do since I hear it makes poison ivy look like a mosquito bite (it has the same urushiol).
So, join me everyone, and let’s say it together . . . shoo-MAKE!
Ummm, *here* we say “soo-mack”.
“Here” being all of Canada.
Insert cute smile.
Oh. Well. CANADA.
Well, shoot. I’ve been calling it sum-mac all this time. Goes to show what I don’t know.
That’s why try not to write posts about what I don’t know. Too much of it!
I’ve always thought it was pronounced soo-mak, but then I’m from Washington State…
I think you’re actually allowed to say it however you want 😉
This had always been one of my favorite plants since I was a young child. I had no idea, however, that your could consume it. I’m not quite sure that I would, but thanks for the info. 🙋🐦
I know! There’s a lot of stuff you CAN eat, but it doesn’t mean you’d want to!