Gum Mastic (Pistacia Lentiscus)

Gum Mastic or Pistacia lentiscus as it is often known, is a dried sap that comes from the Mastic tree (Pistacia Lentiscus), an evergreen tree that can be found in Iran & Greece. The resinous, aromatic ‘tears’ that fall from the Gum Mastic or Pistacia lentiscus tree are often chewed as gum to promote tooth health and aid with digestion. Despite being difficult to get, Gum Mastic is becoming more and more popular in the worlds of natural health, experimental cooking, and drinks. Many well-known dishes in Greek cuisine would not exist without the tears or the mastic tree, despite the fact that it is only recently gaining popularity as a culinary ingredient throughout the world.

Pistacia lentiscus or Gum Mastic is extremely sticky by nature because they are made of resin. These “tears” can easily be pulverised using a mortar and pestle and are normally sold in the shape of crystals. It can also be ground in a blender or spice grinder, but you must freeze it first if you decide to use this approach. Mastiha is a resinous sap, therefore when heated, as occurs with friction in both blenders and spice grinders, those “crystals” will turn into a sticky mess. When seasoning food, both sweet and savoury, mastic gum is frequently used with salt or sugar.