Adventures in Cooking: Queen of Oasis

Majida Rashid

While dates are eaten globally, they have a special place among Muslims around the world.  In  Ramadan, the month of fasting, dates are used to break every fast.  During the month, Muslims keep a few dates and water with themselves, in case Iftar, the time for breaking the fast, happens when they are on the road. 

Growing up I saw dried dates appear in Pakistani bazaars a little before Ramadan, but the Middle Eastern countries broadened my horizon.  They have shops dedicated to selling dates.  Date markets of Tunisia and Algiers have rows upon rows of canvas-covered trolleys with crates stacked underneath, bunches laid on the top and hanging from canopies that provide shade.

In Bahrain, we had four Khlas date palms in the front yard and about eight different date trees in the back.  Beyond that was a chicken-wire fence that separated our compound from the local date farm.  In olden times Bahrain was known as the island of a million date palms.

Dates have sustained populations since antiquity.  The exact record of their domestication isn’t available but evidence of wild date palm has been found in a number of Neolithic sites dating back to 8,000 years.  Even stories of Gilgamesh, the hero of  the Dilmun civilization ranging from Bahrain to Lebanon in the third millennium B.C.E, mention date palm groves. 

These queens of oasis, as they are known in Tunisia, were introduced to America at the turn of the 20th century. While only Tunisian Madjool and Deglet Noor were brought to America for planting, there are hundreds of varieties grown in the Middle East. 

Date palms are either male or female.  The male ones bloom a little before the female.  Insects and wind may pollinate them in the wild but the domesticated palms need human intervention.  Early in the year male trees are closely watched for flowers encased in sheaths.  At the sign of a little crack, the sheaths are cut off of the tree and tied to prevent them from fully opening and wasting pollen. 

A blossom consists of numerous ivory-colored twigs covered with countless tiny flowers and it can weigh up to ten pounds.  

Pollination is done in two ways:  Either the twigs of a male flower are tapped to collect the pollen, which is later sprayed on female flowers, or a few shoots are inserted in the middle of each female flower.  Then it is
loosely tied with palm leaf strands. 

A female flower grows a strong stem to hang from and form a bunch.  A tree can have a dozen or more bunches, each weighing up to twenty pounds.  In May, when tiny green berries appear, the bunches are thinned and pruned.  Stems from the previous harvest along with dry-palm leaves are removed to ward off insects.

With the exception of dates growing in the middle of nowhere, inland farmers cover every bunch with a mosquito net-like sack so they can withstand rain, wind and insects while enjoying the sunshine.

Depending on the climate of a place and market demand, dates are harvested between July and November.

They start appearing in the market when green berries turn yellow and juicy; half yellow and half brown or when fully ripe.  The yellow ones pucker the mouth.

Harvesting dates is no small feat.  A date palm or  phoenix dactylifera can grow up to 65 feet tall.  Men or Nakhda, as they are called in Bahrain, climb barefoot while avoiding hornet nests and long thorns that are strong enough to puncture a car tyre, and cut off the bunches from under a canopy of tough leafy branches.  The work doesn’t end there. 

The best ripe  dates are manually plucked and others are sorted.  Then they are stored in low temperature, checked for quality, weighed, hand sorted again and packed.

Thank the men for their hard work when you next enjoy these delicious candy-like nuggets filled with protein, fiber, vitamins and trace elements.

I like to eat my dates pure but stuff them if they are too sweet.  Dates with pits are more moist than without.  It’s ideal to buy dates from a Middle Eastern store.

Halve 10 - 12 dates and remove the pits.  Cream a quarter cup of  cheese or Labneh and put half teaspoon in each date.  Sprinkle with chopped pistachio or walnuts.  Almonds can also be used to stuff halved dates. 
Enjoy!