Mastic is a resin tapped from a variety of lentisk tree grown on the Greek island of Chios. Ground, it gives a piney, cedar-like aroma and a stretchy texture to breads, ice cream and puddings.
What it is¶
Mastic is the resin of the mastic tree, a slow-growing variety of the lentisk shrub that grows all around the Mediterranean. Although lentisk is common, the resin used commercially comes almost entirely from the villages of southern Chios, the mastichochoria. Mastic of Chios has had EU Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status since 1997.
In summer, growers score the bark. The sap oozes out and hardens into irregular pale tears, which fall onto ground that has been swept and dusted with white earth to keep them clean. They are gathered, sorted and cleaned by hand. Fresh tears are translucent pale yellow; they darken and become more brittle with age.
Mastic is also chewed as a natural gum — the English word "masticate" shares its Greek root, mastichein, "to gnash the teeth".
Origins and history¶
Mastic was known in the classical world, and Greek and Roman writers mention it as a chewing gum, breath freshener and ingredient in medicines. Chios's mastic became a valuable monopoly: the Genoese controlled it when they held the island from the 14th to the 16th centuries, and the Ottomans afterwards, when mastic was reputedly prized in the Sultan's palace. During the massacre of Chios in 1822, tradition holds that the mastic villages suffered less than the rest of the island because of the resin's value to the Ottoman court; the details are debated.
Mastic spread through Ottoman, Levantine and Egyptian kitchens and remains part of Greek, Turkish, Cypriot, Lebanese, Syrian and Egyptian cooking.
Flavour and aroma¶
Mastic tastes like a pine forest after rain: fresh resin, cedar and a clean, slightly minty sharpness, rounded by a faint sweet, vanilla-like note. It is bitter if overused. Chewed, the tears first crumble and then soften into a gum that holds its flavour for a surprisingly long time.
In cooking it contributes texture as well as flavour: a small amount gives milk puddings and ice cream a subtle stretch and chew.
In the kitchen¶
Mastic must be ground before use, and it is sticky. Freeze the tears for 15 minutes, then pound them in a pestle-and-mortar with a pinch of sugar (for sweet dishes) or salt (for savoury). Quantities are tiny: ¼–½ tsp ground mastic, about 3–6 small tears, is typically enough for a loaf or a litre of milk.
- Breads: Greek tsoureki and Easter breads, Cypriot flaounes, often with mahleb.
- Ice cream: Turkish dondurma and Syrian booza combine mastic with salep (orchid flour) for their chewy, stretchy texture.
- Milk puddings: muhallebi, rice puddings and Greek rizogalo.
- Sweets: loukoumi (Turkish delight), and the Greek "submarine" (ypovrychio), a spoonful of mastic fondant dipped in cold water.
- Savoury dishes: in Egypt and the Levant, a few tears simmer with cardamom, bay and onion to flavour chicken stock for fatteh and rice dishes.
- Drinks: mastika, a Greek liqueur, and mastic-flavoured spirits.
💡 Dissolve it properly
Add ground mastic to warm milk or melted butter and stir until it disappears. Dropped in whole, it clumps into chewy lumps.
Buying and storing¶
Keep tears in a small airtight jar in a cool, dark place, or in the freezer, which also makes them easier to grind. They keep for a couple of years, gradually yellowing. Ground mastic clumps and fades quickly, so grind only what you need.
Substitutes¶
Nothing tastes quite like mastic, and in a recipe where it is a minor note it is better simply left out. A little extra vanilla with a pinch of mahleb fills the gap in breads. For the texture of dondurma there is no simple home replacement.
Pairs well with¶
Milk, cream, butter, rosewater, orange-blossom water, pistachios, almonds, honey, sugar, chicken, rice, mahleb, cardamom, vanilla, cinnamon, bay leaf and saffron.