The World That Was - Roman Honey-Stewed Stuffed Dates

 Hello and Welcome to The World That Was!

Today, I'll be making some honey-stewed stuffed dates - as recorded by the Roman culinary artiste - Apicius. As with most of his recipes, it's a little vague in the ingredients and methodology, but I've tried to recreate this as faithfully as I could! Stuffed walnuts are still eaten around the world today, and they're extremely easy to make, so an excellent thing to make for that special someone this Valentine's Day!

In any case, lets now take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video above!

Ingredients

12 dates (pitted)

1/4 cup walnuts

1 tbsp peppercorns

honey

red wine vinegar

water

Method

1 - Prepare Ingredients

To begin with, we need to crush or chop our walnuts. Crush them as much as you like in a mortar and pestle. I prefer large chunks here, so that's what I did. Alternatively, you could just chop these with a knife - its up to you! Place the chopped nuts into a small bowl and leave it aside.

Next, grind up your peppercorns in a mortar and pestle, make sure it forms a coarse powder. The Romans didn't differentiate between peppercorns and long pepper, so either could have been used here! Whichever you use, grind it up and leave it aside in a small bowl.

Now we need to make a pocket in the dates. Depending on your dates, this may be easier or harder to do. If they've been pre-pitted, then you can use the little pocket formed by the pit to hold the walnuts and spice.

2 - Stuff the Dates

Take one of your pocketed dates, and stuff some of your crushed walnuts into it. Sprinkle them all with some pepper. Alternatively, you could make these into a paste, by grinding the walnuts and pepper into a fine powder, before adding some honey and mixing it all together. Either way works well, but I prefer the texture of chunks of walnuts here.

Do this to all of your dates, and leave them aside on a plate.

3 - Prepare the Syrup

Now we need to make a broth to boil our dates in. Do this by pouring some honey into a pot, along with a large splash of red wine vinegar. Pour some hot water on top of this, and whisk it all together. Put this over a high heat for a few minutes, until the mixture starts to bubble and boil.

4 - Boil the Dates

When your syrup is silky, smooth, and frothy, add your dates to the pot. Take care to do this without letting them fall over, because then your filling will spill out, and reassembling dates covered in scalding-hot honey is not a fun experience.

When they're in, let the whole thing boila way for another 2-5 minutes.

WHen they're done, serve up on a plate, and dig in either warm, or at room temperature!

The stewed dates are sweet yet tart, and a delicious dessert that can be made in a short amount of time! They're even good to eat before boiling, as the sticky exterior of the dates lets the black pepper stay attached. The red wine vinegar in the syrup adds a tanginess, which you can adjust by altering how much you add when you're making it.

Dates stuffed with nuts are a common sight today throughout the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East, and this is a delicious twist on a classic dish!

A perfect date for Valentine's Day!