The Science of Spice

Flavour Group | FRAGRANT TERPENES | Mastic 117

RELEASE THE FLAVOUR

Mastic is best ground before use

and mixed with another powdery-like

ingredient so that it is dispersed

throughout the dish.

BLENDING SCIENCE

Mastic’s subtle aroma is mostly due to the flavour compound pinene, which

comprises up to 80 per cent of its chemical make up. Lesser amounts of

myrcene and other terpene compounds give opportunities to partner mastic

with a wide variety of savoury, sweet, or woody spices.

FOOD PARTNERS

Fruit preserves Add a little mastic

to apple jelly or fig jam.

Roast lamb Rub a joint of lamb with

mastic, crushed onion and garlic, and

some cardamom before roasting.

Bread Add a teaspoon of ground

mastic and some fennel seeds to a

savoury bread dough

Sweet bakes Add mastic to

macaroons – mastic pairs happily with

almonds – or to rosewater-scented

sponge cake.

Rice pudding Make a mastic-

scented rice pudding and drizzle with an

orange-blossom-flavoured syrup.

Microscopically thin

cables are similar to

those found in natural

and man-made plastics

and rubbers

Plastic mastic

Adding whole mastic to a cooking broth runs the risk of creating a

gluey plastic paste stuck to the bottom of the pan.

boost pepperiness

with myrcene-

carrying spices:

coriander adds a

refreshing citrus quality

and shares many other

compounds, making it

a top match

allspice has a

peppery sweetness

and also shares floral

aromas of linalool

add complexity to

the dominant pine:

nutmeg brings a

complex profile of

orange, floral, and

woody notes alongside

shared pinene and the

equally harmonizing

camphene

draw out floral

aromas:

rose brings a

sweet-smelling raft of

floral compounds

cardamom’s

sweet mintiness and

penetrating eucalyptus,

alongside linalool, also

help balance out

mastic’s dominant

pine flavour

use caryophyllene-

carrying spices for

more woodiness:

cinnamon also

brings warming

sweetness and floral

fragrance

clove’s powerful

eucalyptus-like

eugenol also holds

its own against

mastic’s pinene

MYRCENE

peppery |

light balsam

LINALOOL

floral | lilac

CARYOPHYLLENE

woody | bitter

Kitchen

creativity

In Turkey, mastic is added to Turkish delight; in Lebanon, it flavours a slightly

chewy, eggless ice cream, scented with rosewater. In Egypt, it is added to red

meat and poultry dishes, often along with cardamom.

Grind with sugar for a sweet recipe,

or salt for savoury dishes, or flour for

either. This also stops the mastic

sticking to the grinder.

Try adding mastic to dishes via a sauce

made from a roux of flour, mastic, and

butter or other fats.

PINENE

pine-like |

penetrating

Mixed with water, myrcene flavour

molecules in mastic clasp on to one

another very rapidly to form long

chains, or polymers, which tangle

together into a sticky mass.

MASTIC

Mc

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