On a recent night in the East Village of Manhattan, the Avenue A sidewalk brimmed with chattering bargoers as Tupac’s “California Love” blared from an indeterminable source. A marquee loomed above, and through a veil of vape and cigarette exhaust, its two words beckoned: “DATE SHAKE.”
My companions and I piled into Superiority Burger at the promise of cooling, caramel creaminess. But it was later than any of us realized, and they were no longer serving the beloved treat.
My craving for dates thus remains unsatisfied, so to our trove of recipes I look. I love when dates are blended into shakes, certainly, but also when they’re whirled into cilantro and mango chutneys, rolled into sticky buns, chopped into savory rice dishes and, most simply — but maybe most deliciously — stuffed.
In Melissa Clark’s recipe for roasted fennel and farro salad (above), dates add a bit of heft, alongside briny olives and feta, to upgrade the dish from side to light dinner. Sohla El-Waylly tops blackened florets of broccoli with a sizzled garnish of torn dates and roughly chopped nuts for a striking array of textures and flavors. Eaten with some rice or even some simply prepared tofu, it makes for an enviable desk lunch.
A cornerstone of many Middle Eastern and North African cuisines, dates imbue savory and sweet dishes alike with their rich, molasses-y flavor, — and they’re a staple on fast-breaking tables during Ramadan (which starts next week). Nasim Alikhani, the owner of Sofreh, a restaurant in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, layers a mixture of diced dates and caramelized onions with rice and lentils for her version of the fragrant Persian dish adas polo.
It’s luxurious in taste and appearance, but not in effort or cost, as it is made almost entirely of pantry staples. “A dollop of yogurt and, occasionally, a fried egg, are all it needs to make a complete meal,” writes Melissa, who adapted the recipe from Nasim.
