Date

The date is the sweet, single-seeded fruit of Phoenix dactylifera, the desert palm that has fed the Middle East and North Africa for over six thousand years. Glossy amber to deep mahogany, the best dried fruit — the soft, fat Medjool or the firmer Deglet Noor — is sticky and toffee-like, with thin papery skin over dense honeyed flesh wrapped around one long grooved pit. It smells of brown sugar, honey and warm caramel, and tastes intensely, almost confectionery-sweet, with malty, raisin-and- butterscotch depth. A handful is one of the most energy-dense whole fruits on Earth.