Roman Stuffed Dates
Dates stuffed with nuts and long pepper, rolled in salt, and cooked in honey
City/Region: Rome
Time Period: 1st Century
Like at sports events today, you could get snacks and souvenirs in and around the Colosseum in ancient Rome. There were sausages and pastries and small sweet snacks, like these dates. Not the same as modern hot dogs and soft serve, but kind of in the same spirit.
These dates are really, really good. You could grind the nuts into a fine paste, but I like the texture a lot when they’re left a little coarse. They’re very sweet from the dates and the honey, but the salt and pepper balance it so well (highly recommend the long pepper here). Definitely give these a try!
“Remove the stones from dates, and stuff with nuts, pine nuts, or ground pepper. Roll in salt, fry in cooked honey and serve.”
Ingredients:
- 15 to 20 large dates, such as medjool
- 1 cup (125 g) walnuts*
- 1/3 cup (45 g) pine nuts*
- 1 teaspoon long pepper** or black pepper
- 1 cup (235 ml) honey
- Fine sea salt
*You can use either all walnuts or all pine nuts if you want.
**See notes below.
Instructions:
- Slice the dates lengthwise on one side. Don’t cut all the way through, just enough to open them up so you can fill them. Remove pits if necessary.
- Grind the walnuts and pine nuts in a mortar. The historical recipe isn’t specific on the texture, so do what you like here. You could use a blender or food processor if you want a fine paste, but I like the coarser texture that you get with the mortar and pestle.
- Grind the pepper as finely as possible. Biting into a big piece of it isn’t fun.
- Mix the nuts and pepper until everything is evenly dispersed. Stuff the dates with the nut mixture. Pack as much of the stuffing as you can into each date, otherwise it’ll all fall out when you go to cook them. Close the date around the filling as much as possible, and continue until all the dates are filled.
- Put the fine sea salt in a shallow bowl or plate and roll the stuffed dates in the salt.
- Bring the honey to a simmer in a saucepan. Cook the honey for about 10 minutes, keeping an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t get too hot and boil over (it’s a huge, sticky, impossible mess if it does, trust me).
- Add the dates to the honey, cut side up so the filling doesn’t come out. Spoon or push the honey over the dates and let them cook for about 45 seconds to 1 minute.
- Remove the dates and set them on a plate or a piece of foil or parchment to cool completely, about 10 minutes.
- Once the dates have cooled and are a bit less sticky, serve them forth.
Notes
- Long pepper was very popular in ancient Rome. It's hotter than black pepper and has a more aromatic, almost flowery quality to it that's wonderful.
- Link to long pepper: https://amzn.to/3ui5j5L
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