The Date Palm

During my travels around southern Iran, I was struck by the attitude of the locals toward the date palm and its fruit—integral to all Persian cooking but held in near reverence there. Dishes that include dates and date products abound in the region’s cuisine. One of my favorites was a surprisingly simple yet tasty dessert: A black date/kabkab is dipped in a sesame sauce/ardeh and popped into your mouth, where it bursts with delicious and complex flavors—perfect after a main course of fish. Pleasures like that stirred my curiosity about the date palm: I found myself wanting to know everything about this pillar of Iranian cooking.