Can you guess what's different about the dishes on this plate?
Answer: They're all flavored with mastiha, a resin from a tree cultivated in the southern part of the Greek island of Chios.
Mastiha may be unfamiliar, but it has a wide array of uses including in cuisine, as these examples show.
The grilled tofu, which is at the top of the plate and above, is marinated with mastiha adobo and combined with shiitake mushrooms and edamame, then dressed with a mastiha honey and chile vinaigrette.
The Tuscan kale salad at the right of the plate has been tossed with mastiha oil and lemon. It's a really healthy dish, containing quinoa too and farro, currants, apricots and sunflower seeds.
These baby carrots are glazed with mastiha honey. They're also seasoned with coriander and poppy seeds.
The appetizer above is mastiha liquor-cured salmon with rosemary and juniper on brioche along with lime crema and baby arugula.
An example of mastiha in desserts is a chocolate pot au creme tartlet (above) topped with mastiha whipped cream and candied orange.
Mastiha is used in drinks too, like the Chios Mastiha Bramble made with Kleos, which is a mastiha spirit from Greece; vodka, lemon, blackberries and mint (above).
All this mastiha cooking took place at Fellow restaurant in Westwood, arranged by the Chios Mastiha Growers Association.
Exported from Chios to 47 countries including the United States, mastiha comes in a variety of forms: crystals, powder, oil, capsules and gum. It's also known as mastic and appears in such products as chewing gum, Turkish ice cream, baked goods and in therapeutic and cosmetic products.
I came away from Fellow with a few mastiha crystals (above) that I would like to try in baking, perhaps in a Greek bread. I saw a tiny bottle of mastiha once at an international supermarket where I shop, and a Turkish friend says she finds it in Middle Eastern markets.
In the meantime, look for it on line and go to www.precious-drops.eu for recipes and more information.
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