So What Is This Mastiha Stuff?

Mastiha (or some might call it Mastika) is a special tree sap from a particular island in Greece.  The island is called Chios, and the sap from these trees can be used for adding flavor to many different treats such as ice cream, Turkish delight, and even gum.  Some believe that this waxy resin is a cure all as well, it's said to help with about a million different ailments.  But to get the real Mastiha experience you have to chew it in the pure crystal form.

So that's what I did.  I picked up a little bag of these crystals, and they're not cheap, a few grams cost me two and a half Euros (that's about 4 or 5 American dollars).  The best way to describe the straight sap flavour wise is to compare it to Buckley's cough syrup, or at the very least it's what you might expect to taste if you decided to make out with a pine tree.  It's not that pleasant, although a lot more mild than Buckley's.  The thing is I can imagine some people liking these, they're not sweet at all, and I can see developing a taste for this stuff.  It might take me a little while to build such a taste, but I think I'm going to give it a try.  So this is blog one of my experience trying to develop a taste for Mastiha.

CC