Sumac is a sour berry. It’s dried and ground into a ruby red powder. I discovered it at [London restaurant] the Palomar when I first started cooking there. The head chef at the time was using it in sweet and savoury dishes. There would be sumac marshmallows and meringues and sumac and lemon tarts but we would also add it to a fattoush salad. It’s used in a lot of Middle Eastern cookery to add a sour tangy flavour.

I use it in addition to lemon juice because it gives a different level of tang and you can create layers of flavour. I add it to salad dressings and pesto. I’ve used it in a sorrel and pumpkin seed pesto, as sorrel has a very similar flavour profile. Whiz up sorrel, parsley, toasted pumpkin seeds, olive oil, sumac, lemon juice and maple syrup, and use it to dress fresh crunchy things like a kohlrabi and apple slaw. It’s great with fruit – especially red berries like roasted strawberries; I roast them with sugar, lemon juice and sumac. Toss it with red onions and lemon juice and serve it on the side of falafel with tahini. Sumac cuts through rich dishes beautifully. My palate loves sour flavours so I can go quite hard with it but for someone who is new to it, I would suggest a sprinkle and see how you go.

Helen Graham is executive chef at Bubala Spitalfields and Bubala Soho, bubala.co.uk.