‘Al tamr mesmar al rukba” – the date is the nail of the knee. This is an old Emirati saying about the benefits of dates for the joints. But that’s not all; dates are healthy, filling, energising, religiously ordained and can even help keep your skin beautiful. And as well as being a popular local snack, they’re becoming hugely popular in food preparation around the world, especially in healthy recipes as a natural sweetener.
The date comes from the most extreme of climates and terrain. Ancient Egyptians and Greeks swore by its healing powers. The date palm is mentioned more than any other fruit-bearing plant in the Quran; Prophet Mohammed gave them special status and broke his Ramadan fast with them.
“Indeed in dates there is a cure,” said the Prophet, and advised his followers that: “He who eats seven ajwa dates every morning, will not be affected by poison or black magic on the day he eats them.” Ajwa are a type of Saudi Arabian date grown in Medina.
Around this time of the year, the date shines as the brightest agricultural star. Its different sizes and tastes are celebrated annually at the Liwa Date Festival in Al Gharbia, which started on July 20 and ends on July 30.
This year, as in past years, the most beautiful date will be found in Al Ratab Beauty Contest, where al ratab (half-ripe dates) will be judged on quality and size. About 70 per cent of the grading points will be decided according to the quality of the dates, with the rest dependent on the quality of the farm of origin after inspection. Cash prizes range from Dh5,000 to Dh200,000 depending on the category and rank.
“The date is important religiously, culturally, historically and health-wise,” says Musabbeh Al Kaabi, the Emirati executive Oriental chef at Jumeirah Zabeel Saray, who uses dates frequently in his dishes. “Not many fruits have reached such a status.”
Al Kaabi recalls a childhood in which dates were a stipend meal at home, and offered to guests with traditional Arabic coffee.
“The date is so healthy that mothers would take out the seed, and then soften the date by grinding it a bit, and let their infants suckle on it,” he says.
These days, the date is included in modern dishes, as a natural sweetener and binding agent in cakes, desserts and smoothies, something that has revived global interest in the fruit.
“The world has caught on to the benefits of the date and its versatile uses,” Al Kaabi says.
Among those people is Emma Sawko, the co-founder and creative director of Dubai’s Comptoir 102 in Jumeirah and Wild & The Moon, at Al Serkal Avenue. Both cafes offer sugar-free and dairy-free dishes, with raw and gluten-free options, and date dishes make up a big portion of these.
“It is a personal passion for food and cooking, and inspired by the way I grew up. My mother was health-minded and knew there was a relationship between nutrition and health, and used a lot of herbs, grains and organic food,” says 40-year-old French entrepreneur Sawko. “The challenge is to make people understand that healthy can be tasty. I decided to include the dates because it is an important local fruit and a very healthy and good one for you.
“If you are feeling tired, just eat a date. It’s suitable for the health-conscious, free from cholesterol and very low in fat, but full of vitamins and minerals. We use it as an energy booster in our smoothies and energy bars. We don’t have sugar in our cafes – the natural sugars found in dates, while it may be high, is a good type of sugar, but you have to be careful not to eat too many dates because excess of anything is not good,” she says.
During the past few years, Al Kaabi and Sawko have both seen how the public has become aware of the importance of organic raw dishes, especially those including dates. “The old Arabs knew what was good to eat or not to eat, and we are slowly going back to that,” Al Kaabi says. “Our ancestors may not have known the specifics of what was inside the date, but they knew it was good for them because its benefits have been passed down generations upon generations.”
The Liwa Date Festival runs daily from 4pm to 10pm until July 30. For more information, visit www.liwadatesfestival.ae.
A spa date
“The date is a fruit of the Middle East and UAE; it is the pride of our country and at the same time it is very versatile,” says Leena Al Abbas, owner and founder of the Organic Glow Beauty Lounge in Dubai.
“The lovely subtle scent of the dates, and the refreshed look it leaves on the skin, makes this facial one of our top sellers,” she says.
“I research and try out everything before I put it [on the spa menu] as a service. One day, I picked up the dates and ground them and put them on my face and saw the great results,” she says. “Most just know it as something they have with their coffee.”
The facial is suitable for all skin types – after cleansing using rose water and a scrub of organic brown sugar, the date paste is applied.
“It is pure ground dates mixed with maple syrup,” Al Abbas explains. “You can also mix it with sea salt or brown sugar and make it a body scrub.”
rghazal@thenational.ae
