The distinctive feature of the date is its large sugar content. This
sugar is of a mixed kind, being partly fruit sugar, and partly cane
or invert sugar. The presence of this latter makes the date somewhat
difficult of digestion in cases where the power of digesting cane
sugar is small. Dates go well with nuts of all kinds. They are better
assimilated when eaten with fresh green salad.
On account of their sweetness, dates have at times been used for
preparing a coffee by drying and roasting them in a slow oven or
kiln. So made, the resulting powder must be kept in an air-tight tin,
otherwise it will absorb moisture, and become caked.
The stones of dates also have been used, after careful roasting, to
make a coffee, but the grinding process is difficult, owing to the
intense hardness of the stones.
In the deserts of Arabia and northern Africa the date is a food of
immense importance and frequently constitutes the sole food of the
Arabs when travelling. Even the stones are pulverised, and fed to the
camels. In the East, the date palm bears the title “the tree of life”:
its length of life and fertility are certainly astonishing.
It is not necessary to pay a high price for good dates. The Hallawi,
Khedrawi, and Caliphat varieties are the best, having the softest fibre
and thinnest skins, and their price is moderate, the Hallawi, for
instance, being quoted by one well-known London store at 1s. 6d. for a
7 lbs. carton.
Date Decoction.
Add 1 quart of water to 1½ lb. of washed and scalded dates. Allow
the dates to soak for a few minutes. Then, with a potato masher or
something of the kind, break up the dates until the water has reduced
them to stones and fibre. Strain off the liquor and heat it to very
near boiling point. Add cream or milk, according to taste. This makes
an excellent drink with about half milk. To those who lack energy it
will often bring about surprising results. (Bernarr Macfadden.)
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