Food

[Mr.P]

Just walk to any Middle eastern store and they are lot in US, you'll find all types of dates especially during this time of the year. 😉

I had an aunt who lived in the imperial valley in California and she would send us epic quantities of dates that were grown near her every Christmas. These were medjul dates which I am surprised to read are considered second rate!

Exciting to think about the delicious alternatives that are out there…

 

[Obada]

To be honest, I dont know if I would buy medjool if I dont know the origin country/brand. A lot of them are marketed as Palestinian but they arent, without getting into politics and details

Ajwa is my nr 1, fresh ones are juicy, sweet but not too sweet and can be small to medium in size. But yea good ones are expensive.
Sukkari are just too sweet for me, which is why they are called Sukkari (sugary)
Khodari are good too

I prefer decent sweet ones so I enjoy balah and ruttab (the fresh dates) with a cup of coffee.
But I am not an expert or very experienced in all kind of dates

 

[Mick]

Hello Mick
Where did you get them from? Online?

I live in Berlin, and over here there are a lot of middle eastern stores, so its easy to find them

But yes, in this case I ordered online, as I wanted to try a few specific recommendations from Ahmaoud and Zubayr in this thread 🙂

 

[Mr.P]

To be honest, I dont know if I would buy medjool if I dont know the origin country/brand. A lot of them are marketed as Palestinian but they arent, without getting into politics and details

Ajwa is my nr 1, fresh ones are juicy, sweet but not too sweet and can be small to medium in size. But yea good ones are expensive.
Sukkari are just too sweet for me, which is why they are called Sukkari (sugary)
Khodari are good too

I prefer decent sweet ones so I enjoy balah and ruttab (the fresh dates) with a cup of coffee.
But I am not an expert or very experienced in all kind of dates

The Medjool my aunt sent were local to her and US grown i think - very hot and arid where she was. She would also send us a big gallons of desert wildflower honey. A loving person and generous to the point of making you look at your own choices - nothing but fond memories.

 

[AdeelWM]

Bateel is the best source for dates. Btw anyone tried cave honey with crushed pearls? Just grabbed some.

 

[YusaAromatics]

Ajwa is not jokin around #1
But i like non dried fresh dates, watery & the taste is amazing.

 

[Mr.P]

Ajwa is not jokin around #1
But i like non dried fresh dates, watery & the taste is amazing.

Would love to try those some day!

 

[Mr.P]

Here's some food for the food thread. Red lentils. Just the perfect thing to have on hand. I cook certain foods well but I have a lot to learn. I've been trying to live on a budget and support the small local market near where I live (an oxymoron but I'll be damned if I'm giving all my money to the man) which means eating really basic stuff. I can get green lentils in bulk so I have been improvising soups with those pretty regularly. Regardless of what I put into them (or mostly don't put into them) i like it better than eating (almost) anything that started in a can.

I started cooking with the red lentils this past week because I'm feeling about 50% lazier about cooking than I was a few months ago when I was getting into the green lentils and I was recently very excited to find out the hard way that these things cook up in under 50% of the time compared to the green ones, which already cook up faster than any dried legume has any business cooking. And they are so so good. Since they cook up in less than 50% of the time but I'm only feeling 50% lazier, this is a net gain of somewhere between one and 10% of disposable motivational energy! Putting that sh%# in the bank these days, there's a whole lot to chew on in the world

I know there are so many good ways to cook these things and I'm actually excited to take some steps in that direction.

 

[Himanshu Sharma]

Here's some food for the food thread. Red lentils. Just the perfect thing to have on hand. I cook certain foods well but I have a lot to learn. I've been trying to live on a budget and support the small local market near where I live (an oxymoron but I'll be damned if I'm giving all my money to the man) which means eating really basic stuff. I can get green lentils in bulk so I have been improvising soups with those pretty regularly. Regardless of what I put into them (or mostly don't put into them) i like it better than eating (almost) anything that started in a can.

I started cooking with the red lentils this past week because I'm feeling about 50% lazier about cooking than I was a few months ago when I was getting into the green lentils and I was recently very excited to find out the hard way that these things cook up in under 50% of the time compared to the green ones, which already cook up faster than any dried legume has any business cooking. And they are so so good. Since they cook up in less than 50% of the time but I'm only feeling 50% lazier, this is a net gain of somewhere between one and 10% of disposable motivational energy! Putting that sh%# in the bank these days, there's a whole lot to chew on in the world

I know there are so many good ways to cook these things and I'm actually excited to take some steps in that direction.

Here’s a recipe I tried last week. It does use three different lentils but it’s delicious. Give it a shot

 

[Scentlover98]

Am I the only one who eats dates with butter in them ? Raw organic butter ( from raw milk) from jersey cows to be exact. One of the healthiest foods.

I sometimes use it as pre workout snack/meal


Sometimes I spread peanut butter or I put a walnut in them.

I know it sounds gross (that’s what I thought hearing it for first time) but give it a try. Sprinkle a little bit of ancient salt on it and enjoy. The taste slightly reminds me of caramel.

Like brother @Obada i find dried dates to be too sweet. The butter takes little bit of the sweetness away hence why i enjoy it so much.

It also prevents high blood spikes which can occur when you eat too many dates.

But please note I can afford this since I lost a lot of weight due to illness and I definitely can’t lose more weight during Ramadan. I need to gain or at least maintain

 

[Zubayr]

Am I the only one who eats dates with butter in them ? Raw organic butter ( from raw milk) from jersey cows to be exact. One of the healthiest foods.

I sometimes use it as pre workout snack/meal


Sometimes I spread peanut butter or I put a walnut in them.

I know it sounds gross (that’s what I thought hearing it for first time) but give it a try. Sprinkle a little bit of ancient salt on it and enjoy. The taste slightly reminds me of caramel.

Like brother @Obada i find dried dates to be too sweet. The butter takes little bit of the sweetness away hence why i enjoy it so much.

It also prevents high blood spikes which can occur when you eat too many dates.

But please note I can afford this since I lost a lot of weight due to illness and I definitely can’t lose more weight during Ramadan. I need to gain or at least maintain

I've been having dates with butter in them for iftar since the beginning of this Ramadan. Specifically I have ajwa dates with kerrygold butter and it tastes amazing, although I'm on a keto diet so I was doing it more to incorporate fat as opposed to taste

 

[mesOUD]

I've been having dates with butter in them for iftar since the beginning of this Ramadan. Specifically I have ajwa dates with kerrygold butter and it tastes amazing, although I'm on a keto diet so I was doing it more to incorporate fat as opposed to taste

Man i was on keto for 1 year
İt was best version of me phisically and mentally
I break it,but thinking to go again but looking for a sustainable way

 

[Zubayr]

Man i was on keto for 1 year
İt was best version of me phisically and mentally
I break it,but thinking to go again but looking for a sustainable way

Yeah keto is amazing honestly. I'm doing it because I have an illness of which I will not go into more detail, and it helps a lot. I did an almost carnivore diet last year which was even better imo, but that is so hard to maintain imo.
You guys have a lot of fatty meat and veg in Turkish cuisine no? Slowly transitioning away from bread, rice and bulgar wheat might be the best way to go

 

[mesOUD]

Yeah keto is amazing honestly. I'm doing it because I have an illness of which I will not go into more detail, and it helps a lot. I did an almost carnivore diet last year which was even better imo, but that is so hard to maintain imo.
You guys have a lot of fatty meat and veg in Turkish cuisine no? Slowly transitioning away from bread, rice and bulgar wheat might be the best way to go

İ hear you
May be we did it bcz of same reason
İ dont like or craving for carbs and enjoy fsts and meats and yes our cuisine,especially my hometown is suitable for keto bcz we dont have anything except lamb 😂😂😂😂
But after a point of a strict 0 carbs and keeping body on ketosis,carbs seems like diamonds
İ think this time if i start,i wont be that strict for making it sustainable and long term

 

[AdeelWM]

İ hear you
May be we did it bcz of same reason
İ dont like or craving for carbs and enjoy fsts and meats and yes our cuisine,especially my hometown is suitable for keto bcz we dont have anything except lamb 😂😂😂😂
But after a point of a strict 0 carbs and keeping body on ketosis,carbs seems like diamonds
İ think this time if i start,i wont be that strict for making it sustainable and long term

If i was turkish I would have the best body lol all you gotta do is stick to protein. Turkish meals are so clean!

 

[Saudalhajri]

Not really food but a drink.
It’s my take on date “Nabeed” or wine. An ancient drink in Arabia.
I didn’t measure it but it’s around 150-200g of dates, a liter of water, a sprinkle of cardamom, cinnamon and a little ginger.
All mashed together and left in the fridge for 30 hours approximately, then filtered with a coffee filter.

Tastes as expected sweet from the dates, the spices don’t show up really but boost the overall flavor. Although I might add a little more cardamom, as dates sometimes give a funky flavor, not alcohol or vinegar flavor like kombucha, more yeasty. It’s not too strong or noticeable but I’m a bit sensitive to it and don’t like it.

 

[Saudalhajri]

Yeah keto is amazing honestly. I'm doing it because I have an illness of which I will not go into more detail, and it helps a lot. I did an almost carnivore diet last year which was even better imo, but that is so hard to maintain imo.
You guys have a lot of fatty meat and veg in Turkish cuisine no? Slowly transitioning away from bread, rice and bulgar wheat might be the best way to go

Likewise, I tried carnivore for 2 months before. I became a completely different version of myself, much more healthy, more focused, needed 4-5 hours of sleep max, so much energy I didn’t need coffee. Hair and skin became better, joints stopped cracking, no more bowel issues and had a much better mental health. But like you said it’s not sustainable, and it’s hard to keep on the diet when visiting people or eating out.

 

[Himanshu Sharma]

Some side by side for Ajwa and Shukkari.
I can’t believe, I am doing side by side of dates on Ouddict.
We are blessed to have this forum and the the forum members. May god protect this 😀

Ajwa dates are undoubtedly a notch above the rest. More nuanced. I like how shukkari are a bit crunchy and honey sweet.
I’ve been having home made ghee stuffed dates with a little sprinkling of coarse salt as a pre workout. So good.

 

[AlHind Oud]

Some side by side for Ajwa and Shukkari.
I can’t believe, I am doing side by side of dates on Ouddict.
We are blessed to have this forum and the the forum members. May god protect this 😀

Ajwa dates are undoubtedly a notch above the rest. More nuanced. I like how shukkari are a bit crunchy and honey sweet.
I’ve been having home made ghee stuffed dates with a little sprinkling of coarse salt as a pre workout. So good.
View attachment 44909

Nice!

Ajwa defintely hits above everything. Sukkari gets dry easily, the fresh ones are not crunchy.

If you get a chance, try Algerian dates. You'll definitely love them. They retain the mositure and won't easily dry up.

Looks something like this

 

[Obada]

Some side by side for Ajwa and Shukkari.
I can’t believe, I am doing side by side of dates on Ouddict.
We are blessed to have this forum and the the forum members. May god protect this 😀

Ajwa dates are undoubtedly a notch above the rest. More nuanced. I like how shukkari are a bit crunchy and honey sweet.
I’ve been having home made ghee stuffed dates with a little sprinkling of coarse salt as a pre workout. So good.
View attachment 44909

We are having dates reviews on ouddict 😂 I love it
My last plate of Ajwa, We should vote them for dates of the year