Mastic
Pistacia lentiscus · Spice
Top 10 pairings
Mastic (mastiha) is the aromatic resin tapped from the mastic tree (Pistacia lentiscus var. Chia), an evergreen shrub of the cashew family. Bled as a milky sap that hardens into pale, brittle "tears," it carries a clean pine-cedar aroma and is chewed as a natural gum and used to flavour breads, sweets, liqueurs and ice cream.
Picking a good onedrag
Clear tears, pine at the crackYellowed and dull, barely smells of pine
Shop freshEveryday bestKept cool and dark, tears hold their pine for years. Gram-scale capsule doses, not baking pinches, are what pregnancy advice avoids.
Tears or groundWhole tears, sealed jar, importer and origin both named
Colour in the lightTranslucent pale yellow, still clear to look through
Crack one and smellResin there at the break, quieter, warms up in the hand
Grit between the fingersA little dust in the pack, the tears themselves clean