 |  | | | Mastic, one of Europe's oldest spices | 23 Mar 2004 | | |
When she appeared on Desert Island Discs the cookery writer Claudia Roden told Sue Lawley that her number one desert island dessert would be an ice cream flavoured with the unusual taste of mastic.
Mastic, the gummy product of a relative of the pistachio tree, is one of Europe's oldest spices. In its heyday it was considered so precious and luxurious that armies quite literally fought for the right to control it's cultivation and sale.
In Northern Europe, we have now become familiar with saffron, coriander and other Mediteranean herbs and spices but mastic has yet to catch on.
Anna McNamee has taken it upon herself to discover its history and its subtle flavour. | |
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