Need a 'Hot Date' for Valentine's Day?

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Need a 'Hot Date' for Valentine's Day?"

Podcast Information:

• Title: All Of It
• Host: Alison Stewart
• Producer: WNYC
• Description: ALL OF IT is a show about culture and its consumers, aiming to engage thinkers, doers, makers, and creators about the what and why of their work. The show fosters a community that celebrates diverse perspectives and experiences, reflecting the vibrant culture of New York City.

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Episode Overview

• Episode Title: Need a 'Hot Date' for Valentine's Day?
• Release Date: February 14, 2025
• Topic: Exploring the cultural significance, history, varieties, and culinary uses of dates, especially in the context of Valentine's Day recipes and traditions.

Introduction

[00:37] Alison Stewart opens the episode by introducing the special Valentine's Day theme centered around "dates." She humorously clarifies that the focus is not on celebrity Pedro Pascal but on the fruit dates. Alison introduces the guest, Rowan Al Khatib, an illustrator and author of the cookbook Hot Date: Sweet and Savory Recipes Celebrating the Date from Party Food to Everyday Feasts.

Guest Background and Significance of Dates

[01:22] Rowan Al Khatib shares her upbringing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), highlighting the omnipresence of dates in her daily life. She describes how dates are integral to cultural and religious practices, especially during Ramadan when they are the first fruit consumed to break the fast. Rowan emphasizes the universal reach of dates, noting that "billions of people around the world [consume] dates at the same moment as the sun sets. It's a very powerful thing to think about."

Historical Perspective on Dates

A caller inquires about the history of dates featured in Rowan's book.

[02:08] Rowan Al Khatib responds, "There is evidence of dates being planted around 7,000 years ago," indicating their long-standing cultivation and significance. She elaborates on how dates have been "deliberately cultivated as a way to keep ourselves fed," highlighting their sweetness and longevity as key factors in their enduring popularity.

Varieties of Dates and Their Characteristics

[04:08] Alison Stewart invites Rowan to discuss different varieties of dates.

[04:11] Rowan Al Khatib enumerates several varieties:

• Medjool: Known for being large and plump, originating from an oasis in Morocco. Rowan notes, "it's the date that's most grown in the United States" and mentions its Arabic name "majhoul," meaning unknown.
• Khalas: Referred to as the quintessential date, often given as gifts.
• Succari: Described as "sugary," with a crystalline texture resembling salted caramel.
• Black Gold Date by Sam Cobb: Noted for its mysterious taste, with hints of coffee, cherry, and vanilla.

Rowan emphasizes the diversity of date varieties and their unique flavors, making them versatile for various culinary applications.

Cultivation and Pollination Process

A caller expresses interest in the pollination process.

[07:13] Rowan Al Khatib explains the labor-intensive process:

• Pollination: Done by hand, with male pollen inserted into female flowers.
• Ripening Stages: Dates undergo several ripening stages, from raw and crunchy varieties like Barhi to fully ripe, custard-like dates in the Rhytlab stage. She shares insights into how different stages affect texture and flavor, enhancing their suitability for various recipes.

Culinary Uses and Recipes

[09:29] Listener Hoda shares her appreciation for dates during Ramadan, highlighting their nutritional benefits for pregnancy and postpartum recovery. She provides a favorite recipe:

• Bacon-Wrapped Dates: Stuffed with Roquefort cheese, pistachios, and dried apricot, then wrapped in bacon and cooked until crispy.

[10:31] Listener Judy introduces a jar of Ceylon premium date syrup from Israeli cuisine, seeking recipe suggestions. Rowan recommends a "winter elixir" blending date molasses with turmeric, ginger, coconut oil, olive oil, and black pepper for a soothing drink.

[14:56] Rowan Al Khatib discusses another recipe:

• Tahini-Drizzled Dates: A simple yet magical combination of dates and tahini, perfect for enhancing flavor with minimal ingredients.

[15:15] Recipe Highlight: Dragon Fruit and Cardamom Smoothies Rowan describes a vibrant pink smoothie recipe incorporating:

• Ingredients: Frozen pink dragon fruit, banana, dates, cardamom, and coconut water.
• Benefits: Dates add a caramel undertone and fiber, making the smoothie both a treat and a healthy start to the day.

[18:37] Bacon-Wrapped Dates Revisited Rowan elaborates on her signature dish:

• Hot Cheese Dates: Cheesy dough mixed with spicy smoked paprika, wrapped around date flesh, and baked until crispy and warm. These are crowd-pleasers at parties.

[19:06] Double Ginger Carrot Soup A winter main dish where dates enhance the inherent sweetness of carrots, especially when using overwintered varieties, resulting in a bright and flavorful soup.

Listener Interactions and Cultural Insights

Several listeners call in to share their experiences and ask questions:

• Hoda [09:29]: Discusses the cultural importance of dates during pregnancy and postpartum.
• Judy [10:31]: Shares a recipe involving Ceylon date syrup.
• Dominique [12:44]: Praises dates as the perfect running food, emphasizing their convenience and nutritional value.
• Priya [16:51]: Reflects on her experiences with dates in India and the Middle East, highlighting their introduction to her social gatherings in Princeton.

[20:23] Listener Elizabeth recounts childhood memories of dates paired with peanut butter or almonds and discovers a love for date-based recipes like lumberjack cake from Better Homes and Gardens.

Advanced Culinary Techniques

Rowan introduces more sophisticated dishes:

• Poussin with Spiced Rice and Date Molasses Glaze: A complex dish involving young chickens on spiced rice, brushed with date molasses, and topped with seedy rubble for added texture. Rowan notes the coordination required to ensure perfect glazing and timing.

Valentine's Day Applications

When asked about incorporating dates into Valentine's Day:

[22:54] Rowan Al Khatib suggests pairing dates with chocolate:

• Date-Truffle Truffles: Incorporating dates into chocolate truffles to enhance their richness without overtly tasting like dates.

She emphasizes that dates can elevate traditional Valentine's treats by adding depth and natural sweetness.

Conclusion

[23:18] Alison Stewart wraps up the discussion by reiterating the title and author of Rowan's cookbook, thanking her for the insightful conversation.

[24:07] The episode concludes with a standard WNYC promotion, which is not part of the content discussed.

Notable Quotes

• Rowan Al Khatib [01:28]: "Dates are omnipresent [in UAE]. They sustain people because of that as an everyday."
• Rowan Al Khatib [02:08]: "There is evidence of dates being planted around 7,000 years ago."
• Rowan Al Khatib [04:40]: "In Arabic, people still call them majhoul, which means unknown, because they're from an unknown date variety jewel."
• Rowan Al Khatib [07:13]: "Millions and millions of trees are all hand pollinated."
• Rowan Al Khatib [15:32]: "Dates add a bit of sweetness without being overwhelming. They add fiber. They just make for a texture that I find really pleasing."

Key Takeaways

• Cultural Significance: Dates hold immense cultural and religious importance, especially in Middle Eastern societies, where they are integral to daily life and traditions.
• Historical Roots: Dates have been cultivated for over 7,000 years, making them one of the oldest cultivated fruits.
• Variety and Versatility: With numerous varieties, each possessing unique flavors and textures, dates are adaptable for a wide range of culinary applications, from appetizers to desserts.
• Nutritional Benefits: Dates are not only sweet and delicious but also offer nutritional benefits, including fiber and essential vitamins, making them a healthy addition to various dishes.
• Culinary Creativity: Rowan's cookbook showcases the versatility of dates, providing both simple and complex recipes that highlight their natural sweetness and adaptability.

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Note: For those interested in exploring the rich world of dates, Rowan Al Khatib's Hot Date: Sweet and Savory Recipes Celebrating the Date from Party Food to Everyday Feasts offers a comprehensive guide filled with diverse recipes and cultural insights.

Transcript

[Progressive Insurance Ad]

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[Alison Stewart]

This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. And now this Valentine's Day, we've got a hot date in studio. No, not Pedro Pascal, although one can only hope. I mean, actual dates, the fruit. Rowan Al Khatib is an illustrator and author of a new cookbook called Hot Daughter Date. Sweet and savory recipes celebrating the date from party food to everyday feasts. In the book, we learn about the ancient history of dates dating back to when evidence suggests humans started planting date trees 7,000 years ago. And there are these classic recipes like bacon wrapped dates, there's hot cheese dates and a recipe who can forget the quintessential California date shake? Rwan Al Khatib is here in studio to discuss and to take your calls. Hi, Ruan.

[Rowan Al Khatib]

Hi, Alison.

[Alison Stewart]

So you grew up in the United Arab Emirates.

[Rowan Al Khatib]

Yes.

[Alison Stewart]

So what did the role of the date play in your life?

[Rowan Al Khatib]

They were omnipresent. Dates are everywhere there. People grow dates in their gardens. My parents have date palms in their gardens and they're kind of the only fruit that successfully grow there. But they're also just like around every day. We eat them all the time. People give dates as gifts to each other and in the lead up to Ramadan and during that month in particular, dates are the first fruit, the first thing you eat to break your fast. So there are billions of people around the world consuming dates at the same moment as the sun sets. It's a very powerful thing to think about.

[Unnamed Caller]

When you write about the history of dates in your book. How far back do they go?

[Rowan Al Khatib]

I mean, as you said, there is evidence of dates being planted around 7,000 years ago, deliberately wild dates, probably even longer than that. But we've grown, grown with dates as a species for a very, very long time and deliberately cultivated them as a way to keep ourselves fed, keep ourselves interested in the food that we're eating. They're very sweet, which of course, we all respond to. And those varieties are still, you know, they last a very long time.

[Unnamed Caller]

Who were they served to and what, you know, were they for special occasions? Were they for every day?

[Rowan Al Khatib]

They're both. So that, I mean, that's one of the amazing things about dates is they are absolutely a special occasion treat, but they're also things that sustain life. If you think about the Arabian Peninsula and what a harsh environment it is, the places that dates grow. There's a saying that date palms grow best when their feet are in the water throughout an oasis and their heads are in the fires of hell. They grow in very hot places. I know it's quite dramatic. And so they do really well in places where little else grows. And they've sustained people because of that as an everyday. A block of dates, a little bit of ghee, and maybe the milk from your camel will get you across the desert of the Empty Quarter. I mean, they're really a very powerful fruit.

[Alison Stewart]

Listeners, we want to hear from you. What's your favorite recipe to eat or cook with dates and why? Our Phone number is 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. Maybe you grew up with dates because they're part of your culture. Tell us about your nostalgia, eating dates. 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. Do you have a favorite date variety? Do you have a recipe you like? Or maybe you know nothing about dates and you have a question? Our phone number is 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. There are so many different kinds of dates.

[Rowan Al Khatib]

Yes.

[Alison Stewart]

Could you just list a few for our listeners?

[Rowan Al Khatib]

Sure. I mean, many of your listeners are probably familiar with the Medjool. That's the one that you go into the grocery store and you see these big plump dates. That's the Medjool. It comes from an oasis in Morocco, and it has this beautiful backstory where it nearly went actually was brought to California and then propagated there and then brought back to North Africa so that it didn't die out. So it has this really roundabout way. It's the date that's most grown in the United States.

[Unnamed Caller]

Ooh, I'm going to Morocco.

[Alison Stewart]

Will I find there?

[Rowan Al Khatib]

Yes. In Arabic, people still call them majhoul, which means unknown, because they're from an unknown date variety jewel.

[Alison Stewart]

Making a note to myself.

[Unnamed Caller]

Okay, continue, please.

[Rowan Al Khatib]

So those are the ones that you probably have seen somewhere. But there are so many in. In the UAE where I grew up in sort of in the, like, that part of the world. The khalas is the date that is the best known and is known as the quintessential date. That's the one that's like the dateiest date. It's given as gifts. I really like Succari dates, which means sugary. They have a texture that's a little crystal. There's a bit of crystal in it. So when you bite down, they're a little hard and then yielding and they taste like salted caramel. There are some amazing dates that are grown out in California. There is the black gold date by Sam Cobb, who's the only black date farmer out there as well. They have this mysterious taste that no one can put their finger on. It's like, is it coffee? Is it cherry? Is it vanilla? What is it? They're great. And he'll take you on a tour of his date farm anytime. If you're out in the Coachella Valley, there are thousands.

[Unnamed Caller]

You know, it's so interesting before you even get to recipes. I think it's like page 51, before you even get to recipes. There's so much to talk about. What did you want to in those first 50 pages of your book?

[Rowan Al Khatib]

I think I just wanted to show the richness of. I mean, 7,000 years is a long time for anything, right? So there are so many different types of dates. It's a very well established. The process of growing dates is very labor intensive. They have to be pollinated by hand. So millions and millions of trees are all hand pollinated. I really wanted to show how complex it is to get something from a tree to your plate without being super didactic about it. I mean, it is didactic because it's 50 pages of information about dates.

[Unnamed Caller]

But beautiful illustrations.

[Rowan Al Khatib]

Might I say, thank you so much. I had a lot of fun doing those.

[Alison Stewart]

We got an Instagram that says happy Valentine's Day, Alison. These are raw vegan cashew cheesecakes sweetened only with dates. We also got a text that says medjool dates as a filling for cinnamon buns. Healthier than brown sugar. And someone else saying, I'm making date nut bread right now. It's my mother's recipe and I eat it with cream cheese. That sounds really good. I want to go back to the pollination. Excuse me. Because the dates can have several stages of ripeness and it can be up to a seven month process. Could you walk us through that briefly?

[Rowan Al Khatib]

Sure. So right around this time of year, in a couple of weeks is when in warmer places than New York City, the dates are pollinated and male date flowers or pollen for male date flowers is taken and sort of inserted into the female flowers. So it's like I said, a very labor intensive process. It's done by hand the female trees are the ones that carry the variety, so they are the ones that dictate what type of date it is. And then over the next few months, these tiny little green buds grow and start to turn into, depending on the variety, long or round or otherwise shaped dates. Most dates, you have to ripen fully before we as humans can eat them and consume them. There are a few varieties like the Barhi, which is available in the US and others like the Zahlul or the Lulu, which is one that we have in our garden. You can eat them when they're still crunchy. So that's in the late, late summer, early fall. And they have this crispy texture that it's like a bit like an apple, but they taste almost like coconut water. It's very unusual. It's nothing like what you think of when you think of a dry brown date. So you can harvest those from the tree, eat them raw. They have a slight tannic quality to them. And then later in the fall, that's when they ripen fully. They're harvested in several stages because they don't all ripen at the same time. They're thinned out and they ripen on the tree. So they kind of come to you in the form that they would be on. There's a rhytlab stage, which is when they're fully ripe and not completely dry. And they're like custard. They're so soft and luscious and just they melt in your mouth. Worth seeking out at that point for sure.

[Unnamed Caller]

My guest is Rwan Akhtib. The name of her book is Hot Date. Sweet and Savory Recipes Celebrating the Date. From Party Food to Everyday feast. We want your calls. We want to know what recipes that you like that include dates. 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. Let's talk to Hoda from the Upper west side. Hi, Hoda. Thanks for calling, all of it.

[Hoda]

Hello, good afternoon, Ramadan Kareem in advance to your guest and to you. So thank you for. Yes, thank you. Thank you. So thank you for hosting this. I will tell you I think the date underrated and most valuable fruit there is. Dates are also very critical for pregnancy. When I was expecting with my two children, I used to always have. It was always customary that leading up to the due date and also postpartum, you would have a lot of dates because of the nutritional values that they have in terms of repairing the body but also helping with milk production. And it's very customary, culturally, that when a woman just gives birth that you present her with dates not only as an acknowledgement or form, but also to help with her healing. So it's a good tip to share with your guests or your expectant parents.

[Alison Stewart]

Thank you so much for calling. Let's talk to Judy in the Bronx. Hi, Judy. Thank you so much for joining us. You're on the air.

[Judy]

Thank you. I'm holding a jar of Ceylon premium date syrup. And it's a very popular item in Israeli cuisine. And I wondered if you had a recipe that you could suggest using this Ceylon.

[Alison Stewart]

What do you think?

[Rowan Al Khatib]

Oh, sure. So Ceylon is one name for a date molasses. There are a lot of different particular varieties from all across the date growing regions. And there are a ton of date molasses recipes in the book, one that I will recommend. Right now, it's winter season. It's flu season is I like to call it a winter elixir. You can blend date molasses with some turmeric, some powdered ginger, a little bit of coconut oil or olive oil, just a little bit, and black pepper, and mix it all into a paste. And then you can keep that in a jar at your desk or in the kitchen. And when you feel a little tickle in your throat or a little tingle coming on, just pour some hot water and stir a spoonful of that in and then add a big squeeze of lemon. And it is so satisfying and warming and soothing. And the date syrup really helps keep things, keep things going.

[Alison Stewart]

I read in your book that the.

[Unnamed Caller]

Old houses on the Arabian Peninsula, they have molasses rooms.

[Rowan Al Khatib]

Yes.

[Unnamed Caller]

Do they use them or is it historical?

[Rowan Al Khatib]

It's a bit. I mean, most people don't, but there are still some places who do. I mean, the date, it's really hard to overstate the importance of it to families who are very much from there. My parents came to Dubai and so they, they brought their own cultures with them. But for people who are like of the region, dates are truly like a sacred fruit. And so life revolved around them. They had special rooms in their homes to make date molasses that sort of sloped down into the center so that the dates would compress themselves under the weight of their own juices to create the state syrup.

[Unnamed Caller]

Let's talk to Dominique from Brooklyn. Hi, Dominique. Thank you so much for calling, all of it. You are on the air.

[Dominique]

Hi. Thank you for having me. And Ramadan Karim to those who celebrate. I lived in Indonesia after college and I followed the fast for the two years I was there and we used to break fast with coconut milk and bananas and of course, dates. So I fell in love with dates then. And then when I moved to New York in 2009, I became a runner and I always run. I do all my races with dates and just wanted to give a shout out to how awesome dates are. And I think they're the perfect running food. And you don't need to get those. All those packets that pollute and everything. So that's my shout out.

[Rowan Al Khatib]

Love it.

[Unnamed Caller]

We got Bill calling in from Bloomfield. Hi, Bill. Thanks for calling, all of it.

[Hoda]

Thanks, Alison. I'm a daily listener. Love your show. I have a date recipe that I've been making for years. Family and friends all love it. It's bacon wrapped dates. I stuff the dates with roquefort cheese and a pistachio and a wedge of dried apricot, wrap it in bacon and cook it for about 30 minutes.

[Unnamed Caller]

Love hearing that. That's actually the first recipe in your book.

[Rowan Al Khatib]

Yes, it is. I mean, it's because love a bacon wrapped date. When you're at a party and they start getting passed around, is anyone ever sad to be like, oh, a bacon wrapped date. They're delicious. I recommend also if you can find lamb bacon, the one thing my editor who I adore had a lot of really good suggestions, but at one point she was like, there is too much lamb in this book. But I do just want to say that if you can find lamb bacon, it is an unusual addition. And some butchers, you know, like ask your local butcher, you never know, they might make some.

[Unnamed Caller]

Your next recipe under party food is tahini drizzled dates. It sounds like it's kind of easy.

[Rowan Al Khatib]

It's extremely easy. I mean, I hope that a lot of the recipes in here are quite simple because dates themselves need drink of water. Yes. I'm gonna take a sip.

[Unnamed Caller]

Okay. This is Rwan Al Kabi. Excuse me, Akhatib. The name of the book is hot date. Sweet and savory recipes celebrating the date from party food to everyday feasts. Go, go.

[Rowan Al Khatib]

So tahini drizzle dates. It's so simple, but it's like magic. You use two ingredients. You spread your dates out on a platter. The squishier the better. But any dates will do. Tear them apart, take the pit out and then drizzle them with tahini. That's it. Try one and thank me later.

[Unnamed Caller]

All right, let's talk breakfast. You have a recipe you say is the hottest hot pink drink. This is dragon fruit and cardamom smoothies. All right, tell us how you get to the pink. And also, why are dates so good for smoothies?

[Rowan Al Khatib]

They are. So I'll get to the pink in a second. But dates and smoothies, I find, add a bit of sweetness without being overwhelming. They add fiber. They just make for a texture that I find really pleasing. And so I really like throwing a date into whatever smoothie I'm making because they. They add this caramel undertone that feels luxurious. It feels like the smoothie you're drinking is a treat as opposed to something you're doing just for health's sake. And this pink drink in particular is one of the ones that I love to make in the wintertime because a little color on a gray day just sets the tone. You can find frozen pink dragon fruit in a lot of grocery stores. Okay, so it's the pink kind that really does the trick. And it's a very mild and sweet fruit. It doesn't add a ton in terms of flavor, but you get that pink. But you get that pink. Exactly. I mean, fresh dragon fruit is a whole other beast, but it's that pink dragon fruit, some banana, some dates, and then you throw in a little bit of freshly cracked cardamom or cardamom powder, whatever you have at home, and coconut water, and it just. All of those things together make something really special. It feels like a real treat to start your day.

[Unnamed Caller]

Let's talk to Priya, who's calling us from Princeton.

[Alison Stewart]

Hi, Priya. Thanks for calling all of it.

[Progressive Insurance Ad]

Hi, thanks so much for taking my call. One of my oldest and fondest memories of dates is back in India, which is where I grew up. And during the Hindu celebration, a festival of Diwali, we'd exchange nuts and dried fruits. And those dried fruits included apricots, figs, and dates. And dates were by far my favorite. And fast forward and I visit Dubai, UAE back in the 80s, and I got introduced to dates. As your guest said, it's omnipresent. And I was like, wow, this is what a date is all about. And subsequent trips, I got introduced to batillo dates. And I was like, one just can't cook with this. And so back in Princeton, as we have wine and cheese parties, I started to have date and sherry parties, introducing my friends to what a true date is all about. And it's just so delicious. So as much as I loved my memories in India and got introduced to it, I didn't really know what I was missing out on until I visited the Middle East.

[Unnamed Caller]

Thank you for calling us Priya, I got a text here that says, what's the best way to rehydrate dates?

[Rowan Al Khatib]

Oh, well, I mean, put them in a small bowl with some warm water and let them sit, depending on what you need them for. If you do that, they won't be as pleasant to eat out of hand. The way Priya described the luxurious dates that you don't want to cook with, these are when, once you've rehydrated them, you would probably want to use them in baked goods or in a cooked dish. If you need to get them really soft, add a little bit of baking soda, and that will help sort of tenderize the date flourish.

[Unnamed Caller]

Let's talk about hot cheese dates.

[Rowan Al Khatib]

Yes.

[Unnamed Caller]

You like to make these?

[Rowan Al Khatib]

I really do.

[Alison Stewart]

How is it made?

[Rowan Al Khatib]

This is a very short, cheesy dough that has. I like to add a little bit of spicy smoked paprika to it as well. And then you wrap that around a little nugget of date flesh and bake them in the oven until they're crispy and cheesy and warm. You put those out on a platter and you serve them at a party and they just disappear from the plate. People love them, as do I.

[Alison Stewart]

You have winter mains that you suggest for people?

[Unnamed Caller]

Yes.

[Alison Stewart]

And one of them is a double ginger carrot soup. That sounds fantastic. Where do dates factor into the soup?

[Rowan Al Khatib]

Well, one of the things about carrot soup that I really love is that there's this inherent sweetness to carrots and, you know, other root vegetables. And the dates help coax that out, especially if you're looking at these wintry, overwintered carrots that are not necessarily at their peak. You want to get that feeling of like a bright, freshly carrot that you sort of pulled out of the ground. Adding in dates helps to coax that out of the carrots.

[Alison Stewart]

Let's try to talk to is Elizabeth from Ridgewood, New Jersey, there.

[Unnamed Caller]

Hi, Elizabeth. Yeah, you're on the air.

[Judy]

Thank you for taking my call. My story is that I was born and raised in Western Pennsylvania with a father who didn't like sugar. So he used to bring in dried fruits, and one of them was dates, which he ate with peanut butter or almonds inside. And as I got older, I discovered a recipe from Better Homes and Gardens called lumberjack cake, and it has as an ingredient dates. So I was delighted.

[Unnamed Caller]

You nodded your head in agreement.

[Rowan Al Khatib]

Lumberjack cake is one of the. It's a regional variation. I want to say it's Canadian. It's sort of in the family of a sticky toffee pudding, but it has a crunchy coconut topping. I think I'm a little uncertain because I didn't end up including it in the book, but it was one of the many rabbit holes that I was going down, and you reminded me that I had been meaning to try it. So there are a lot of delicious date cakes.

[Unnamed Caller]

You've got something in here called hot date butter. Is it literally dates and butter?

[Rowan Al Khatib]

It is. There are a few other things as well. There's a lot of garlic and herbs, and it makes. A friend of mine texted me this morning and said, I just made the hot date butter, and I licked the bowl. And then there's a recipe in here for tater tots tossed in that hot date butter, which is a nice high, low combination. Just, it makes for this, like, very buttery, garlicky deliciousness. And the same friend also said that she nearly came to blows with her spouse over the last tot.

[Unnamed Caller]

So we've talked about how easy it is to cook with dates. What do you think is probably the most sophisticated or most difficult dish you have in here?

[Rowan Al Khatib]

Oh, that's a wonderful question. I do think some of the long cooked dishes. Dishes are a bit trickier in the sense that you are setting it and forgetting it, but then at the last moment, making sure everything's perfectly calibrated is important. There's a dish that is these poussins, or young chickens on a bed of spiced rice, and they're brushed with a date molasses glaze. And it is complex in that there are a lot of different ingredients. They're topped with the seedy rubble that makes for a very crunchy, like, little pops of fireworks on top of this. This big mountain of rice and chicken and getting the glaze on there and making sure it doesn't burn, and everything's, like, coordinated at the last moment. To come out as this feast dish is worth the effort, but it is some effort.

[Unnamed Caller]

I'm looking at your hand, and I notice in your two rings, is that you on the COVID That's me on.

[Rowan Al Khatib]

The COVID I am for the listener. I'm wearing big rings. I'm a big ring lady, for sure. And, yeah, those are my hands all throughout the book, actually.

[Unnamed Caller]

How should I work dates into my Valentine's Day celebration?

[Rowan Al Khatib]

Ooh. I mean, I think a lot of people like to think of dates and chocolate or Valentine's and chocolate as a perfect pair. And dates and chocolate as a perfect pair. There's a recipe for truffles that have dates layered into them where you can't really tell that you're eating dates exactly, but they make the chocolate more chocolatey. So if that is what your valentine wants, that's what you should give them.

[Alison Stewart]

The name of the book is Hot Date Sweet and Savory Recipes Celebrating the Date From Parties Hearty Food to Everyday Feasts is by Rowan Al Khatib. Thank you so much for coming to the studio.

[Rowan Al Khatib]

Thank you, Alison.

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