Cooking with the date fruit is one of the most ancient ingredients used for thousands of years.
Cooking with dates is easy. North African recipes use Deglet Noor dates as an ingredient for breakfast, lunch, dinner or appetizers and dessert. Often cooking with dates in African recipes, Deglet Noor dates are stuffed with sweet or savory fillings or simply enjoyed on its own.
Dates are the fruit of the date palm, a tree native to Northern Africa. Botanically the date fruit is a berry. It takes about 200 days from pollination for the date to reach full ripening. One medium-size Deglet Noor date has about 44 calories and almost no fat.
A large portion of the calories in dates food come from sugars. Deglet Noor dates have many nutritional benefits; antioxidants, sodium, cholesterol and fat-free, and being nutrient-dense both fiber and potassium.
Hababauk is the term used for the female flower
and the period just after pollination when the young fruit is still creamy
white before gradually turning green at the kimri stage.
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| Collecting Deglet Noor Dates |
Stages of the ripening of a Deglet Noor date:
·
Kimri- Early ripening of the date
remaining green
·
Khalal- The date reaches its full
size and changes from green to yellow or red in color depending on the variety
of date. Weight gain is slow but sucrose content increases. At this stage,
dates are still crunchy, like an apple and considered a delicacy.
·
Rutab- Dates decrease in weight due
to moisture loss, a mixture of glucose and fructose, browning of the skin and
softening of the fruit. The moisture content goes down to about 35% and the
dates at this stage are sold as fresh fruit.
·
Tamr- When the dates are left to
ripen further. The most traditional way of producing tamr is sun curing and
drying usually on mats. However, in some areas of Africa such as Tunisia, the
highly sought after Deglet Noor date is cured on the hanging stems remaining
intact with the cluster of dates gives a better result than when the dates are
stripped off then cured on mats.
Natural Date Fruit Syrup Recipe
Ingredients
1 cup chopped pitted dried dates
2 cups water
Directions
Place dates in a large bowl, cover with water and
soak 3 hours. Add all ingredients into a blender and blend until
a thick syrup forms, add more water if necessary More about date fruits and cooking
The date fruit is
produced mainly in the hot dry areas of the North African countries of Egypt, Algeria,
Sudan and Morocco. Date palm is cultivated in arid and semi-arid regions, which
are characterized by long and hot summers, no, or at most low rainfall and very
low relative humidity level during the ripening period.
Most of the dates
are sold without seeds and around 80% of Deglet Nour are sold in the USA. The
seeds are removed by hand or by machine, the methods range from seed removal
while ensuring the dates remain whole and their texture is not harmed, to the
complete grinding of the product. When seed removal is done by machine, some
seeds may remain, and a warning must be included on the packed product.
Pitted pressed dates
are pitted by hand or by machine, pressed into a mold and vacuum packed.
Packing in this way and with the right amount of moisture preserves the dates without
refrigeration. If dates are not preserved correctly microbiological processes or sugar crystallization can occur ruining the date fruit. This product is
used mainly as a filling for cakes and biscuits, especially during the Muslim Feast
of Holy Ramadan.
Date paste can be
used as fillings for cakes and date syrup is used to sweeten drinks, on waffles
and pancakes and many other foods such as sauces for chicken or chutney, and cookies, brownies and cakes. Alcoholic
drinks are popular by the fermenting natural sugar in date fruits.
Sweet Date Couscous Dessert Recipe
Ingredients
3/4 cup instant
couscous
1/2 cup dried dates,
chopped
1/4 cup toasted
almonds, chopped
1/4 cup date fruit
syrup
1/2 teaspoon orange
flower water
1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions
Cook couscous
according to package directions toss with remaining ingredients, serve warm as
a dessert or add milk for a warm cereal breakfast.
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