Date honey, date syrup, date molasses, Debes (Arabic: دِبس, pronounced [dibs]), or rub (Arabic: رُب, pronounced [rubb]; Hebrew: דְּבַש תמרים dvash tmarim or סילאן, silan; Persian: شیره خرما) is a thick dark brown, very sweet fruit syrup extracted from dates. It is widely used in Middle Eastern cuisine and Maghrebi cuisine.
History
editThe Book of Deuteronomy in the Hebrew Bible, in describing the abundance of the Holy Land, includes honey among its bounties. Rabbinic texts such as the Jerusalem Talmud and Sifre interpret this honey as date honey rather than bee honey.[1][2] Archaeological evidence from Jerusalem supports the use of date honey during this period. A storage jar, marked with a palm tree and found in a room of a building destroyed during the siege of Jerusalem in 586 BCE, indicates that date honey was stored there.[3]
First-century Jewish historian Josephus, in his account of the oases of Jericho and the various date varieties grown in this region of Judaea, notes that "the better kinds [of dates], when pressed, yield an excellent honey not much inferior in sweetness to other honey."[2]
Nutritional aspects
editDate syrup is rich in the monosaccharides glucose and fructose.[4] This means that most of its sugar content is absorbed into the bloodstream, and it raises the blood glucose levels more efficiently and immediately than other syrups. It is therefore highly suitable for people suffering from hypoglycaemia, for those with sucrose intolerance or those with pancreatic problems who have difficulty absorbing disaccharides.[citation needed] Date syrup is higher in magnesium and potassium than some natural sweeteners such as maple syrup and honey, and it has been a popular alternative to sugar in recent years.[5] It is also rich in antioxidants due to its high phenolic and flavonoid content[6][7][8] and has been shown to exhibit anti-inflammatory activity.[9][10]
In national cuisines
editIt is used widely in Libya, usually with asida, a porridge-like dessert.
In Iranian and Iraqi cuisine, date syrup is used to sweeten tahini, consumed at breakfast. An alternative is grape syrup.
In Algeria, date syrup is used in desserts such as baghrir.
In the Middle East, date syrup is used for flavoring chicken and potatoes. They are rubbed in date syrup mixed with cardamom, salt, and olive oil, and then rolled in sesame before being fried in olive oil or baked it in the oven as a whole. Date honey is also used as a sauce for stuffed vegetables, such as onions and turnips, and as an ingredient in a semolina cake called basbousa, which gives the cake a honey-like taste.
Bangladesh produces around 20,000 tonnes of date molasses in each year. [11] The Kalkini Upazila region of Bangladesh is famous for its date juice and date molasses.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Deuteronomy, 8:8; Jerusalem Talmud, Bikkurim 1:3; Sifri, Tavo 60
- ^ a b Goor, Asaph (1967). "The History of the Date through the Ages in the Holy Land". Economic Botany. 21 (4): 324, 326. ISSN 0013-0001.
- ^ Magness, Jodi (2024). Jerusalem through the ages: from its beginnings to the Crusades. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 98. ISBN 978-0-19-093780-5.
- ^ Bouhlali, Emiad dine Tariq; Derouich, Mgal; Meziani, Reda; Bourkhis, Boucha; Filali-Zegzouti, Younes; Alem, Chakib (2020). "Nutritional, mineral and organic acid composition of syrups produced from six Moroccan date fruit (Phoenix dactylifera L.) varieties". Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. 93: 103591. doi:10.1016/j.jfca.2020.103591. S2CID 225554702.
- ^ "Date Lady Nutrition Information". Date Lady. Retrieved 2018-11-09.
- ^ Abbès, Fatma; Kchaou, Wissal; Blecker, Christophe; Ongena, Marc; Lognay, Georges; Attia, Hamadi; Besbes, Souhail (2013). "Effect of processing conditions on phenolic compounds and antioxidant properties of date syrup". Industrial Crops and Products. 44: 634–642. doi:10.1016/j.indcrop.2012.09.008.
- ^ Bouhlali, Emiad dine Tariq; Bammou, Mohamed; Sellam, Khalid; Benlyas, Mohamed; Alem, Chakib; Filali-Zegzouti, Younes (2016). "Evaluation of antioxidant, antihemolytic and antibacterial potential of six Moroccan date fruit (Phoenix dactylifera L.) varieties". Journal of King Saud University - Science. 28 (2): 136–142. doi:10.1016/j.jksus.2016.01.002.
- ^ Taleb, Hajer; Maddocks, Sarah; Morris, Keith; Kanekanian, Ara (2016). "The Antibacterial Activity of Date Syrup Polyphenols against S. aureus and E. coli". Frontiers in Microbiology. 7 (198): 198. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2016.00198. PMC 4768629. PMID 26952177.
- ^ Taleb, Hajer; Morris, Keith; Withycombe, Cathryn; Maddocks, Sarah; Kanekanian, Ara (2016). "Date syrup–derived polyphenols attenuate angiogenic responses and exhibits anti-inflammatory activity mediated by vascular endothelial growth factor and cyclooxygenase-2 expression in endothelial cells". Nutrition Research. 36 (7): 636–647. doi:10.1016/j.nutres.2016.02.010. PMID 27333954.
- ^ Bouhlali, Emiad dine Tariq; Hilaly, Jaouad El; Ennassir, Jamal; Benlyas, Mohamed; Alem, Chakib; Amamrouch, Mohamed-Yassine; Filali-Zegzouti, Younes (2018). "Anti-inflammatory properties and phenolic profile of six Moroccan date fruit (Phoenix dactylifera L.) varieties". Journal of King Saud University - Science. 30 (4): 519–526. doi:10.1016/j.jksus.2017.08.011.
- ^ Admin, Mr (2021-12-19). "Production of Molasses with Date Juice: Many rural people find source of livelihood". Weekly Bangla Mirror |. Retrieved 2022-05-16.
External links
edit
Media related to Date syrup at Wikimedia Commons
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