Gum arabic

Gomme arabique

What it is

The gum is the tree's answer to a wound, tapped by cutting the bark of acacias across the Sahel belt from Senegal to Sudan, and Sudan alone supplies most of the world. When the United States sanctioned Sudan it carved out an exemption for gum arabic, because nothing else holds citrus oil in suspension in a soft drink.

In the kitchen

It dissolves at concentrations no other gum tolerates — 30 to 50 % — and barely thickens, which is what makes it a coating: one part gum to three of water, brushed thin over set chocolate or a pastillage piece, dries to a hard shine. Stir it into the sugar before the water goes in, or it lumps and takes an hour to clear.

Goes with

Dark chocolate Orange White sugar Icing sugar Coffee Vanilla Almond

Something wrong here, or missing? Tell us