Dates may seem like just another unexceptional dried fruit, but they are a food with a long history. In this latest contribution to the Consuming Passions series Joel Haber, an independent food scholar specializing in Jewish food, shows the many diverse ways in which this fruit can be enjoyed.

By Joel Haber

For an ancient food, dates hide some pretty modern surprises. Healthful, tasty, and well-known, what makes them truly passion-worthy is their versatility in the kitchen.

Where do dates come from?

The date palm is one of the earliest domesticated trees, native to the broad Middle East region. As a fairly nutritious fruit that was able to be grown in arid climates, dates became a staple food, particularly in deserts where little else reliably grew. The Oxford Companion to Food highlights the fruit’s high amount of protein, but further notes that they were typically paired with dairy products, creating a balanced nutrition source. For desert-dwellers, that dairy came from the sheep or goats they herded, or the camels on which they traveled.

Ancient sources from the Middle East show how prominent dates were in the region. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Ishullanu the gardener wins the love of the goddess Ishtar with “baskets filled with dates to no end.” The Torah (the Jewish Bible) lists seven species with which the Land of Israel is blessed. Dates are among the five fruits and two grains, which were collectively the first species to have been domesticated during the Agricultural Revolution. These seven facilitated the birth of human civilization.

The date’s persistent importance, particularly in the deserts of the region, explains why they appear twenty-two times in the Koran, written well over a millennium later. One of the most famous references is in Sura 19, about Mary giving birth to Jesus. A divine voice tells her to eat fresh dates to ease her labor pains. Interestingly, this connection made its way forward to medieval Europe, where dates were eaten to “strengthen the womb.”

As a dioecious tree (i.e., each tree is either male or female, with only the latter growing fruit), they can’t self-pollinate, making them highly susceptible to variations over time. Thus, today there are hundreds of date varieties, though only a few are internationally known. The majority are consumed locally, rather than traded.

One variety, in particular, is fascinating in that is both ancient and modern simultaneously. The Romans favorite dates came from the Judean city of Jericho. But still in antiquity, that Judean Desert date palm went extinct. In the 21st century, however, Israeli scientists were able to germinate a two-thousand-year-old seed of this variety, resurrecting the species. The male tree couldn’t produce fruit, but once they later germinated more pre-extinction seeds, some trees were female and have now produced dates which haven’t been eaten in at least 1,500 years!

Enjoying dates as they are

Unlike most other fruits, dates are typically eaten dried. But in the Middle East’s open-air markets, fresh dates, yellow and still attached to their stems, are commonly sold in late summer and early fall. They can be rather hard and somewhat grainy in texture, so a modern trick is to place them in the freezer overnight. Once they thaw, they are softer and ready to eat.

Beyond just eating fresh or dried dates on their own as a snack, however, people often dress them up for an appetizer or dessert. A classic preparation is to simply cut open pitted dates and fill each one with a half a walnut. — and there are plenty of more elaborate takes on the stuffed date formula, too.

A modern take on a date-based dessert is Fiona Dunlop’s Coffee Roasted Medjool Dates with Labneh in which the fruit becomes infused with classic Middle Eastern flavors as it cooks.

Dates in a supporting role

In many dishes dates offer a sweet accent to complement the main ingredient. Moroccan tagines, whether made with lamb or chicken, are frequently enriched with dates (sometimes together with other dried fruits). Using a different cooking technique, but a similar combination of ingredient ingredients, Eleanor Ford’s Venetian Chicken with Almond Milk and Dates shows how Middle Eastern and North African ingredients and flavors have been imported into European cuisine.

Finely chopped dates are also often incorporated into stuffings for meat as in this recipe for Lamb stuffed with Dates from The Real Greek by Tonia Buxton. While most commonly used to stuff meat, Keith Floyd shows how dates can also be used to stuff a whole fish .

Another recipe that uses dates as a fruity counterpoint to meat is this pork belly confit from Andaluz, by Fiona Dunlop. This is perhaps something of a departure from the fruits origins given that most residents of the date’s native territory in the Middle East do not eat pork, but it shows how the Spanish readily adopted Middle Eastern ingredients from the Moors. There are also examples of date-stuffed pigs from China — in fact suckling pig stuffed with dates is claimed to be the oldest known pork recipe.

Date syrup (Dibs/Rub/Silan)

Since dates have such a high sugar content, historically they played an important role as a sweetener before refined cane sugar became widely available. Fresh dates were mashed and pressed to extract date syrup or “honey”, called dibs or rub in Arabic, and silan in Hebrew. Date syrup takes some labor to create, but it is not overly technical and Nik Sharma describes how to make your own in The Flavor Equation.

According to most scholars, it was date honey rather than bees’ honey that the Torah intended when it refers to the Land of Israel as “flowing with milk and honey.” Honey bees existed in the region then, but were not yet actively domesticated. Furthermore, the Hebrew word for honey, devash, is similar to the Arabic dibs, suggesting the connection between them. Also, given the longstanding popularity of the date-and-milk combination, date honey makes even more sense alongside milk in the passage.

Silan is widely used today. Since it is made from dates by a simple process of blending and filtration, rather than being a refined extract, date honey offers additional nutrients and fiber compared to pure sugar. Many people, therefore, continue to prefer it as a natural, more healthful sweetener.

Date syrup can be used in many ways. It is often mixed with raw tahini as a simple and elegant dip as part of a mezze course. That same ingredient pairing also appears in Ruth Neiman’s Einkorn Rolls, which bring dates and tahini together with Einkorn, an equally ancient wheat species. Dibs also works well when incorporated into a tangy salad dressing. 

Dates for dessert

As a super-sweet ingredient, dates are perhaps at their best when used at a meal’s end. They pair well with nuts of all types, so that partnership turns up in many recipes. One method is to turn a mixture of dates and nuts into sweet truffle balls of various types. A similar method is used by North African Jews to make the haroset condiment used at Passover Seders.

Halva is a general term for sweets throughout the Arab world. The most common variety blends ground sesame seeds with sugar and other flavorings. But another excellent variety can be made using date syrup, tahini and flour.

The date-nut combination frequently appears in baked goods, too. Date and walnut cake is a simple classic, but can also be jazzed up in any number of ways (e.g. Fiona Cairns adds a dram of whisky) while Amelia Freer’s version includes Earl Grey tea and honey). A more traditional Middle Eastern example is this Iranian Date Pie (Raginak) from Najmieh Batmanglij’s Food of Life, which can be made with either walnuts or pistachios.

Perhaps the most famous date pastry throughout the Arab world, though, is ma’amoul. These shortcrust cookies are filled with a date paste, sometimes incorporate nuts, and are typically decorated with elaborate imprinted designs.

The secret ingredient in sticky toffee pudding

Modern cooks, and those in regions outside the date palm’s native territory, are also finding new uses for dates. To find them hidden in a popular English dish might be a surprise to some (as it was to me). But it turns out the fruit is a core ingredient in Sticky Toffee Pudding, adding stickiness and sweetness to the dessert’s cake portion, which is then multiplied further by the butterscotch syrup topping.

My own favorite date recipe

For an easy and delicious appetizer/side dish using dates, I chop them into small chunks, and mix with grilled merguez sausage (also cut into bite-sized pieces), and roasted chickpeas. The spices on the roasted chickpeas are up to you — I like to experiment. The three parts of this dish combine to deliver a great mix of flavors (spicy, aromatic, and sweet), as well as distinct textures (chewy and crunchy). I typically mix the ingredients together just before serving, and then stir in a little olive oil to prevent everything from sticking together.

Dates as a symbol of peace

Dates have always bridged gaps and symbolized hospitality in the Middle East. Israel’s modern date industry began with saplings purchased legally in Iraq. Unfortunately, it was forbidden to export them, so they were smuggled across the river into Iran, and then brought by ship to Israel. This was only possible due to the good relations Iranians and Israelis enjoyed before the 1979 revolution. While tensions between the two countries are high today, the date story reminds me that the countries were friendly not so long ago, and hopefully will be again in the not too distant future.

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About the author

Joel Haber researches food history, with a particular focus on Jewish food. He lives in Jerusalem, Israel, where he works as a culinary tour guide. His writing, lectures, podcasts, and more are available on his website, The Taste of Jewish Culture.

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