Dried fruit is traditional at this time of year in much of the Northern Hemisphere, stored from the harvest bounty. In the Middle East, dates and religion have been associated even longer: Nawal Nasrallah, who wrote the book Dates: A Global History, says they were a favorite food of the prophet Mohammed and they even hold a special place in the Adam and Eve origin story. In the Islamic version, God asks Adam to bury his hair and nail trimmings, which then sprout into a date tree. During Ramadan, it’s still traditional to break fast with a date, and date sales spike during the holy month. Americans first experimented with growing dates in the late 1800s and early 1900s, spurred by the western world’s obsession with ancient Egypt and biblical archeology.

Source: The North Africa Journal December 24, 2021 08:05 UTC