There are foods that are an integral part of a country or regions lifestyle.
Date Palms
Dates are one of them. The date palms grow abundantly in all parts of the country and of course the Middle East. There are in fact several types of dates. The most common is the big dark brown almost black date that most are familiar with.
Dates have been a staple of the Middle East cuisine and cooking from who knows when and is used extensively in many dishes. It’s one of the fruits mentioned many times in the Bible, such a great source of information of bygone days.
One reason the above mentioned type of date became so popular was its high sugar content. After all it was not until the sugar cane that sugar became a commodity. One of the products from the dates was a syrup, maybe the biblical honey.
dried dates
Today dates can be bought all year round, not just in its well-known dried from, but also as fresh frozen dates. They are absolutely yummie.
Date Cake
When I first came to Israel I learned a recipe for date cake which has become a staple in my family. It is based on packets of pitted, crushed dates that can be bought here. But you can try any type of unsweetened date paste. (I’ve used that as well and it works well).
1 cup boiling water
1/2 pack dates, pitted, crushed
Dissolve the dates in boiling hot water, but do not boil (takes 10-15 minutes for dates to soften)
200 g margerine
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups crushed nuts
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cup flour
1 cup sugar
Melt margarine over hot water. Add sugar and mix. Add all other ingredients and mx. Finally add softened dates and mix well.
Bake in medium oven for app. 45 min.
B’teavon (good appetite)
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