RANGINAK

buttery walnut-stuffed dates

This truly delectable dessert features textural contrasts, with the crunchy toasted walnuts coming as a lovely surprise as you bite into the soft, melting dates. Iranian dates are some of the best you can buy. If you can find them, by all means use them; otherwise use Deglet Noor, Barhi, or Medjool dates. Ranginak means “colorful” in Persian, and this dessert lives up to the name because of the slivers of green pistachios and golden toasted almonds that are scattered all over the top. Serve these dates as a sweet snack with tea, Turkish coffee, or the drink of your choice, or as a dessert at the end of a meal. According to the late Margaret Shaida, author of the magisterial volume The Legendary Cuisine of Persia, whose recipe I have adapted here, ranginak was served in the imperial court in seventeenth- century Isfahan, covered with a layer of creamy rice pudding before the nuts were sprinkled all over.

SERVES 6 TO 8

³/₄ cup [100 g] walnut halves, broken in half lengthwise

1 Tbsp slivered almonds

3 cups [450 g] Iranian, Deglet Noor, Barhi, or Medjool dates

1 cup [220 g] unsalted butter

1²/₃ cups [250 g] unbleached all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp confectioners’ sugar

1 Tbsp slivered or chopped pistachios

Preheat the oven to 450°F [220°C].

Spread the walnut quarters and the slivered almonds over two separate baking sheets and toast in the oven until lightly colored, 3 to 5 minutes. Check on the almonds after 3 minutes in case they are coloring too fast. Take the nuts out of the oven and let cool.

Make a slit down the middle of each date, but only on one side, and, with the tip of the knife, gently pry open to slide the pit out. Insert a walnut quarter inside each date, again being very careful. Press on the ends to close each date and lay them neatly on a serving dish, leaving about ¹/₄ in [6 mm] between each.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat and stir in the flour and confectioners’ sugar. Keep stirring over the heat until the mixture turns golden. Pour the mixture between the dates, filling the gaps; if there is any butter mixture left, pour it over the dates. Let the dates sit for about 1 hour, and then sprinkle with the pistachios and toasted almonds. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day.

dates

Long before oil, Gulf Arabs had dates. Dates were a staple—their main sustenance, together with bread and milk—until oil riches changed their lives and, as a result, their diet. Dates were also an edible commodity used as barter with neighboring tribes. Dates have been central to people’s diet in the region since the earliest period of the Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations, and actual dates were found in tombs of all epochs from the fifth dynasty (2494 to 2345 B.C.) onward. The date palm has been used extensively throughout history as a decorative element in art and architecture.

It is not easy to pinpoint the exact location of the first date palms. According to one narrative, the tree was first planted in Medina by the descendants of Noah after the Flood. If it wasn’t Medina, it was in an equally hot place with plenty of water; as the Arabs say, “The date palm needs its feet in water and its head in the fire of the sky.” It is therefore probable that the date palm first appeared in the oases of the Arabian desert. It is still where most date palms are grown, with Saudi Arabia being the world’s second-largest grower after Iraq. The date palm is also grown on the coasts of Africa, in southern Spain, in western Asia, and in California. The soldiers of Alexander the Great are said to have introduced it to northern India, spitting the stones from their date rations around the camp so that, in the course of time, palm groves grew there.

There are three main types of date: soft, hard, and semidry. The semidry is most popular in the West. Soft dates are grown in the Middle East mainly to eat fresh, though they are also dried and compressed into blocks to be used in a range of sweets, including the date-filled pastries on page 60. As for hard dates, also called camel dates, they are dry and fibrous even when fresh. When dried, they become extremely hard and sweet and keep for years.

Dates still play an important role in the diet of Gulf Arabs, if no longer as a staple. They are the first thing people eat when they break the long day’s fast during the month of Ramadan. Their high sugar content, up to 70 percent by weight in a fully dried date, makes them an ideal way to break the fast after so many hours without any food or water, supplying the necessary rush of energy while easy on an empty stomach. Some people eat them plain, others dip them in tahini, and others have them with yogurt, cheese, or a kind of fresh cheese curd called yiğit. Dates also feature prominently, both in savory and sweet dishes. Date syrup is also used to make a drink called jallab, which is sold on the street, packed with crushed ice and garnished with pine nuts and golden raisins.