Dates

Ingredients

Dates

• a mixture of varieties: ajwa, sukkari, khalas, medjool, safawi

To serve

• Arabic coffee, qahwa, flavoured with cardamom
• sometimes stuffed with almond, walnut or orange peel

Sometimes

• served alongside camel or goat milk
• or with cheese

To serve

• on a plate, to every guest, without exception

Directions

1. Dates are offered with coffee to every guest in Saudi Arabia, and the pairing is close to obligatory.
2. Saudi Arabia is among the world’s leading producers, and dates are grown across the country from Qassim to Medina to al-Ahsa.
3. Now the hospitality, which is the point.
4. A plate of dates and a cup of Arabic coffee is set before any visitor, at any hour and in any setting.
5. Refusing entirely is awkward, and taking one date and a small cup is the polite minimum.
6. The coffee is poured into a small cup with no handle and shaken gently when you have had enough.
7. That gesture, tilting the cup side to side, is how you signal you want no more.
8. Now the varieties, which are distinguished carefully.
9. There are hundreds of date cultivars and the differences are as real as those between apple varieties.
10. Ajwa is small, dark, soft and mildly sweet, and it comes from Medina.
11. Sukkari is pale golden, very sweet and slightly crisp, and its name means sugary.
12. Khalas is amber, caramel-flavoured and one of the most widely grown.
13. Safawi is dark, soft and less sweet than ajwa.
14. Medjool, large and richly sweet, is widely known abroad.
15. Now ajwa specifically, and the claims made about it.
16. Ajwa from Medina carries religious significance in Islam, based on hadith attributed to the Prophet Muhammad.
17. Those traditions are cited as a reason for its status and its high price.
18. Claims that it cures or prevents specific diseases circulate widely and are not established by evidence.
19. It is honest to record the religious and cultural significance while noting that medical claims go beyond what is demonstrated.
20. Now the ripening stages, which are worth knowing.
21. Dates pass through named stages as they ripen, and different varieties are eaten at different ones.
22. Khalal is the crisp, firm, sometimes astringent stage, eaten fresh and crunchy.
23. Rutab is the soft, moist, partly ripened stage, and it is highly prized and does not keep.
24. Tamr is the fully ripened, dried stage, which is what is sold and stored year round.
25. Rutab dates are a seasonal delicacy and they are eaten in quantity when they appear.
26. Now choosing good dates to buy.
27. Good dates should be plump and glossy rather than dry and shrivelled.
28. Sugar crystallising on the surface as white specks is normal in older dates and is not spoilage.
29. They should smell sweet and clean.
30. Now storing them once you have them.
31. Dried dates keep for months in a sealed container at room temperature.
32. Refrigerating them extends that considerably and keeps them from drying out.
33. Soft rutab dates must be refrigerated and eaten within days.
34. Now the coffee they are served with.
35. Saudi qahwa is a pale, lightly roasted coffee heavily flavoured with cardamom, sometimes with saffron and cloves.
36. It is not the dark bitter coffee of Turkey or Italy, and it is barely sweet or not sweet at all.
37. The date provides the sweetness, which is precisely why the two are served together.
38. That pairing is functional as well as traditional.
39. Now stuffing them, which is common.
40. Dates are stuffed with almonds, walnuts, pistachios or candied orange peel.
41. Slit the date lengthways, remove the stone, and press the filling in.
42. A whole almond in a sukkari date is the simplest and one of the best.
43. Now the other uses they are put to.
44. Date syrup, dibs, is made by boiling down the fruit and is used as a sweetener.
45. Dates are stoned and pressed into paste for ma’amoul and other pastries.
46. They are eaten to break the fast at iftar during Ramadan, traditionally with water.
47. Now serving them out to guests.
48. Serve them on a plate, whole, with the stones still in.
49. Guests take them with the right hand and put the stones on the side of the plate.
50. Offer a mixture of varieties if you have them, since comparing them is part of the pleasure.
51. Now a practical note about them.
52. Dates are very high in sugar, and a plate disappears faster than expected.
53. Two or three per person alongside coffee is a normal serving.

Technique

• Dates and Arabic coffee are served to every guest, and the pairing is close to obligatory.
• Ajwa carries religious significance; specific medical claims are not established.
• Rutab is the soft partly ripened stage and is a seasonal delicacy.

Substitutions

• Medjool dates, which are widely available.
• Any good soft date variety.

Variations

• Stuffed with almonds or candied orange peel.
• Served with camel or goat milk.
• Made into date paste for pastries.

History

Offered with coffee to every guest; Medina’s Ajwa variety carries religious significance and Saudi Arabia is a leading producer.

Frequently asked questions

What is Dates?

Dates is a snack from Saudi Arabia: ajwa, sukkari and khalas varieties served with every coffee. Offered with coffee to every guest; Medina’s Ajwa variety carries religious significance and Saudi Arabia is a leading producer.

How long does Dates take to make?

Dates takes 5 min of preparation and none of cooking. The recipe makes a plate for guests. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Dates?

Yes, within limits. Medjool dates, which are widely available. Any good soft date variety.

What is the most important thing to get right in Dates?

Good dates should be plump and glossy rather than dry and shrivelled.