Fired up with new year "out with the old" vigour, I've been rooting through the cupboards to use up some of the things we stocked up on for Christmas. Where they were perhaps sprinkled or nibbled over the festive period, overshadowed by the show-stopping parade of roasts and puds, I'm determined to give them a moment in the spotlight. This week, I'm focusing on soft, fudgy dates; next week, it's the turn of salty capers, the week after, juicy olives.
I don't know about you, but when I was growing up, the festive sideboard always featured one of those long, oval boxes packed with slightly squashed dates held together with aplastic stem. My sister and I paid them little attention until our stock of chocolate and sweets from advent calendars and stockings ran low and we were forced to look elsewhere for our sugar fix. Well, I'd like to apologise to the date for rejecting its quiet, wrinkled brown-ness for the easy allure of foil-wrapped confectionary. I've learned to love the date, either nibbled on its own or added to all kinds of sweet and savoury dishes.
In doing so, I'm enjoying one of the world's oldest and most revered foodstuffs. The date harvest is depicted in some of the earliest Egyptian and Mesopotamian carvings, showing it was already astaple food. The date palm's Latin name, Phoenix dactylifera, refers to the sea-faring Phoenicians who spread its cultivation. The Talmud, Bible and Qur'an all make reference to dates, and they're often used as asymbol of plenty, fertility and abundance. The late 4th-century collection of Roman recipes, Apicius, includes several in which dates are used in sauces for meat or fish. The date palm is revered because it thrives in desert regions where most other crops struggle, so it's an important source of nutrition – the Bedouin have been known to exist for a long time simply on dates and buttermilk. So when we kids rejected dates for Quality Street, we were turning up our noses at something with a pretty remarkable pedigree.
There are more than 1,500 varieties of date, ranging in colour from golden brown to almost black, and in sweetness from delicately winey to deep, rich caramel. One of the most pleasing things in recent years is that it has become easier for us in Britain to get hold of luscious, fleshy Medjool dates. These originated in the Bou Denib oases in Morocco, and have a fine flavour and seductively smooth texture. If you see some, grab them – a kind of guilt-free, natural toffee, they're a delicious treat on their own and are a wonderful addition to all kinds of dishes.
Dates, Medjool or not, are fantastic in tagines of lamb or chicken, chopped into couscous or sliced into salads, particularly those containing some salty cheese and perhaps a bit of citrus. They can open and close ameal. Dates make wonderful hors d'oeuvre stuffed with toasted almonds, wrapped in bacon and fried until crisp on the outside, or stuffed with a little chunk of parmesan or pecorino. Or, if you'd like to serve them with coffee after pud (or even instead of pud), stuff with toasted almonds or chunks of crystallised orange or lemon peel, and dip them in dark, melted chocolate.
Dates are the stars of sticky toffee pudding, and add flavour and substance to baking, too – stir them into cakes, flapjacks or scones, perhaps with a bit of orange or lemon zest, and you'll see what I mean. So get them off the sideboard and into the kitchen. At this time of year, you can never have too many date nights.
Spiced chicken with dates
A great one-pot dinner. Serves four to six.
4 tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 chicken, jointed (or about 1.5kg chicken pieces)
2 onions, peeled and diced
2 bay leaves
4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground cinnamon
150g long-grain rice
80g red or green lentils, rinsed
700ml chicken stock, hot
12 dates, pitted
1 small bunch fresh coriander, stalks removed, leaves picked and torn
20g blanched almonds, toasted
Heat the oil over a medium-high heat in a large casserole. Season the chicken, brown all over and set aside.
Lower the heat and tip the onions and bay leaves into the pan. Sauté, stirring from time to time, until the onions are soft and translucent, about 15 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, ground coriander and cinnamon, and stir for a couple of minutes. Add the rice and lentils, stir for a minute until everything is well coated. Return the chicken to the pan, pour over the hot stock, season, cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Stir in the dates, cover again and simmer for 15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the rice and lentils are tender. Remove from the heat, taste and adjust the seasoning, and stir in most of the fresh coriander. Serve with the remaining coriander and flaked almonds scattered over the top.
Rice pudding with dates and rosewater
The addition of dates and rosewater gives this cosy, classic pud a more exotic appeal. Serves six to eight.
100g pudding rice
35g unsalted butter, plus extra forgreasing
650ml whole milk
250ml double cream
1 vanilla pod, split
50g caster sugar or vanilla sugar
1 6cm strip lemon or orange zest, from an unwaxed organic lemon or orange (remove all traces of white pith)
A pinch of salt
150g dates, cut into chunks
2 tsp rosewater
Dried organic rose petals, to serve (optional)
Heat the oven to 150C/300F/gas mark 2. Wash the rice in a sieve under cold water and leave to drain.
Rub the inside of a 1.5-litre ovenproof dish with a little butter. Put the milk, cream and vanilla pod in asaucepan and heat gently until bubbles just start to appear around the edges. Stir in the rice, sugar, citrus zest and salt, and simmer for five minutes. Stir in the dates and rosewater, pour into the greased dish (don't remove the vanilla or zest) and dot the top with butter. Cover with foil or a lid and bake for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven, stir gently, then return to the oven, covered, for 30 minutes. Remove and stir again, scraping up any bits of rice which have stuck to the bottom.
At this point, if you prefer a pudding without a skin, put a lid or foil back on the pan; if you love the skin, don't bother. Return the rice pot to the oven for another hour, or until the rice is tender and creamy –keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't dry out; add a bit more milk if it does. Serve with the rose petals sprinkled over the top, if desired.
Date, blue cheese and hazelnut salad
Dates go very well with salty things such as blue cheese, whether on the cheese board or in this tasty salad. Ifyou find them tricky to slice, snip with scissors instead. Serves two as a main course, four as a starter.
For the dressing
1 tbsp cider or white-wine vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the salad
A couple of handfuls rocket leaves
80g semi-soft blue cheese
6 dates, pitted and sliced
50g hazelnuts, toasted and roughlychopped
Whisk together the vinegar and oil until you have a creamy emulsion, then pour a tablespoon into the bottom of a bowl. Add the rocket, apinch or two of flaky sea salt and a few grinds of pepper, then toss gently with your hands until wellcoated.
Divide the salad between the plates, crumble the cheese over and scatter on the sliced dates and hazelnuts. Serve at once, with the rest of the dressing trickled over the top.
Date and banana smoothie
Soft Medjool dates work best in this breakfast smoothie. If you have drier dates, first soak them in a little boiling water or hot apple juice for 10 minutes. Serves two.
6 soft dates (Medjool, if possible)
2 small bananas or 1 large one
200g whole-milk yoghurt
200ml whole milk
4-6 ice cubes
A few gratings of nutmeg
Put everything in a blender and whizz until smooth. Pour into two glasses and serve immediately.
