EAT IN ASIA / Destinations / Other destinations / Africa / Tunisia
Tunisian dates and date products – all you need to know before buying and eating them
When you think about dates, the first thing that comes to your mind is a box of dried dates. The second one will probably include nougats and sweets with dried fruits including dates, figs, raisins and nuts. But as all that is correct, there is much more. Apart from a wide range of culinary date products, there is also a less known product line of cosmetics that base on dates, date seed oil and date seeds.
And Middle East countries and these from the Maghreb are the best in that. Their selection of products with dates is really huge. With different spices, herbs and with a different usage purpose. Of course, the most popular are these for eating. Especially these sweet ones like bread spreads, jams, syrups or pastries and chocolates.
Then, more surprising, and less known are all that should be rather classified as savory products. Here worth mentioning are date seed oil, vinegar and even coffee.
Finally come a selection of cosmetics that have dates and date products, like date seed oil.
Many of these products can be tested and tried in the local store in the date palm plantation. You can easily visit them, get some information about the production process, and finally try their products. And that is what we did. We chose one of these plantations and decided to find out something more about the whole production process, about dates history in Tunisia and finally buy something organic, natural and super healthy, as dates are really very nutritive and are packed with vitamins and minerals.
Comestibles
Fruits
Fresh dates
Fresh dates are the best eaten separately, or as it is very popular in Oman, with a peanuts pistachio or sesame tahini. The way you eat it, depends mainly on the texture of the date flesh and their sweetness. Apart from that, sweet dates paired with a strong, black coffee create a nice and a healthy composition.
Fresh dates are usually sold on piles with no branches. However, in some areas, you can easily buy whole palm tree branches with hanging fruits on them. That is less convenient for transportation and storing, however, give you an opportunity of having longer fresh dates. Apart from that, I do not believe you could buy it in that form in any other country that is not cultivating dates.
Depending on the date variety, their sweetness, softness and distinguishable notes are different. Dates’ color can range from an almost translucent caramel one up to the dark black one.
The same applies to the flesh. Finally, what is worth mentioning, it is always better to check the seed’s proportion to the rest of the fruit. There are some varieties that have a really tiny seed, and there are these that are known for their big pit.
Dried dates
Dried dates are probably something you know very well. But, you might be surprised when visiting Middle East and Maghreb countries (five North African countries including Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania and Libya) how many of them do exist. Some date varieties might be better if consumed alone and some are better for cooking purposes, so before buying them, you should find out something more about the selected date’s variety. Sometimes, sellers would be able to explain to you, but usually what works is just to ask about the variety that is on the stall and then check whether it is suitable for your consumption purposes. In some cases, you might be able to even try these dried dates, but usually, dates are already packed in a vacuum bag or in a box, so that option is not then available.
When visiting Tunisia, the date variety that is highly recommended to be bought and the one that is considered to be the best one, is Deglet Noor (spelled sometimes as Deglet Nour). These dates are relatively big, have a sweet, caramel-like taste. What is also good, is the fact that their seed is relatively small when comparing to the rest of the flesh. Apart from that, Deglet’s Noor flesh is soft, slightly chewy, but also easily melting on the tongue.
Bread spreads
Is a sweet breakfast something that you love? If so, why not try date bread spreads? Does it sound strange? But give a try and get some creams that base on Tunisian dates. These bread spreads, if bought in the store on the date palm tree plantation, are super nutritive and what is so important, they are organic, prepared in a natural way and including only the best selection of dates.
Slightly similar to other bread spreads and creams, these that base on dates, have their unique texture and consistency. They are softer and have a more liquid consistency.
Apart from these natural spreads, there are also creams with some spices and natural flavors like cinnamon or chocolate. Apart from that, traditional ingredients like nuts especially hazelnuts and almonds are very often used.
Date cream with chocolate
Dark chocolate mixed with dates create a nice composition. The bread spread’s color is dark brown, and the taste is semi-sweet comparing to other flavors. Slight cocoa notes are distinguishable and the smooth date texture is dominating. Chocolate is also a good source of magnesium and other minerals that might be lost in a hot climate or during a strenuous effort.
Date cream with hazelnuts
Date cream with hazelnuts will be the best choice for you, if you would like to be more traditional regarding tastes of bread spreads. The color is pale, something in between caramel and brown.
Date cream with almonds
If you are a fun of nuts, a nice option for you would be to have a date cream with almonds. Not only because that is a less popularly used nut for bread spreads, but also because of almonds’ characteristic taste. This bread spread has a delicate, pale-brown color, similar to the one with hazelnuts.
Date caramel
Finally, there is this the sweetest cream – the caramel like one. Although it is tasty, it is very sweet, especially when combined with sweet dates.
The color of the date caramel is the palest one and is very pale brown with inclinations to some orange tints.
Jams
Staying with bread spreads there are apart from creams, jams that are a combination of dates with some fruits and spices like lemon, ginger or cinnamon. These jams have a brown color slightly darker than the one of all date cream bread spreads.
Natural date jam
The natural jam made only from dates is the best choice if you would like to taste a natural aroma of these valuable date palm tree fruits. This jam has a smooth texture, slightly resembling the one of the honey. This jam is relatively sweet, but this sweetness is a completely natural one and does not derive from any additional sugar or sweetener.
Cinnamon date jam
Cinnamon date jam is the one you should try if you love oriental notes in your meals and if you are looking for something boosting your digestive system. Apart from health benefits of dates, cinnamon will add extra values too. Cinnamon date jam is also less sweet than a natural one and creates a nice composition with all dairy products. It is also a nice proposal for all porridge and muesli lovers.
Ginger date jam
Are you looking for some more spiciness in your bread spread? If so, then choose a ginger date jam. This less sweet option has a characteristic, slightly bitter and hot flavor. Ginger aromas nicely balance date sweetness and make this jams’ option one of my favorites. Apart from that, ginger nutritive values are also worth mentioning. Boosting your immune system is something you should always do, so including some ginger products to your diet is a good way of absorbing more vitamin C, vitamin B, magnesium, potassium and some other folates.
Date jam with lemon
Finally, why not to try a jam with some more fruity notes? I would suggest you having this date jam with lemon. Lemon not only gives a slight citrus aroma to the jam but also nicely decreases the sweetness of the bread spread. Remember that most of the date products are naturally very sweet, due to the high content of sugar in used dates. Lemon is also a good source of vitamins like vitamin C. This jam has a slightly sour taste comparing to all previously mentioned spreads, however, do not expect anything very sour. This date jam with lemon will still be sweet but its flavor will be well balanced with these exceptional citric notes.
Coffee, oil, vinegar and syrups
In this section, let’s concentrate on other comestibles but on those from another area. Date syrup, vinegar, oil and coffee are these that I would recommend you buying. These options are hardly ever available in Western countries. Sometimes you can get them in some superfood stores or in these oriented on some countries’ cuisines, like Tunisian or Algerian shops. Otherwise, it would be hard to find them in any other regular store.
Date coffee
This is something might like to try. It has a delicate date aroma, but actually, is not exactly coffee made from dates. Although the description my suggest it, this coffee is a blend of a black ground coffee with small date seeds parts. It is an interesting combination, however if you are a real coffee lover and prefer alternative brewing methods or if you accept only coffees prepared from coffee beans ground just before brewing, then this date coffee is not for you.
Date syrup
Even if you are not a big fan of all syrups, sweets and deserts, you should try it. Date syrup is a great substitute for all sweeteners. It can wonderfully replace sugar, honey, maple syrup and all other natural and artificial sweeteners. It is extremely healthy, has a texture slightly resembling this of the maple syrup and has a unique taste. Apart from that, date syrup color is dark brown, well, almost black. It has a delicate translucent tint, that when added to dishes, adds some natural dark-caramel hints. It is great for preparing dessert, smoothies, milk shakes and other beverages like even tea. Apart from that you can try adding it to marinades, or salad dressings.
This syrup is also a great and nutritive option for your breakfast. Add it to your porridge, oatmeal, pancakes or muesli.
Including date syrup to your everyday diet will definitively be beneficial for you, of course, as long as you do not have any special medical and nutritive restrictions.
Apart from that, that this syrup is vegan, its glycemic index is relatively low, what might be important for all of you that extremely take care about eating foods with minimal GI.
Date syrup is packed with vitamins and minerals like iron, potassium, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium. What is worth mentioning, is the fact, that all these minerals exist in it in higher quantity than even in honey or in the maple syrup! The list of vitamins that can be found in the date syrup include vitamin A, B, C and D, however their quantity is not very high. Consuming date syrup is definitively more valuable for all contained in minerals than for vitamins, that unfortunately are not very concentrated.
Apart from that, date syrup has a significance amount of fiber, that has a very positive influence on the digestion system of your organism.
Date vinegar
Then comes date vinegar that is a great substitute for other vinegar types, especially if you are using these that neither are home-made nor do not base on natural fruits like grapes or apples. Date vinegar has a characteristic, relatively delicate taste and is a wonderful substitute for other vinegars used for salad dressings.
Date seed oil
Although date seed oil is mainly used in cosmetics, there are brands that produce date seed oil for culinary purposes. This oil is highly prized for it is high content of monosaturated fatty acids and antioxidant compounds that are lipid soluble.
Sweets with dates
Finally, there is a long list of many sweets and pastries with dates. The basic list includes cakes, chocolates, jellies, Middle East deserts like nougats and traditional local pastries consumed mainly at the end of Ramadan – Eid al-Fidr.
Cosmetics
And at the far end are all cosmetics that include dates or date products. Although the list is relatively wide, I would recommend trying especially some of them. I really like using these products that include this natural date seed oil for my skin, hair and nails. Apart from that great are date body scrubs with little date seed parts.
So why not trying them? No matter whether for the culinary purposes or as a beauty treatment?
Learn more about dates reading our posts on dates in Oman and how to select them. Do not forget to check the post The most popular dates in Oman and How to choose the best dates in Oman.
