Antiquity | Egypt

Ancient Egyptian Date Candy

Sweet | Snack

An Ancient Egyptian recipe for date candies. A recipe & history combined.



Introduction

  Dates are an indigenous fruit of Ancient Egypt. They grow in places all across the nile, and Egypt is one of the world's largest date exporter in the present day.

  In ancient times, the dates were a desired delectable too. They used the fruit to sweeten beer or make recipes like the one we learn about today.

  Dates undoubtedly had a special meaning in Egyptian culture. For instance, some mummies were wrapped with date palm leaves. Another example is that 'fresh' dates, date pits and entire branches of the date palm have been found in excavations of burrial chambers. These observations show that dates had an elevated (if not divine) meaning in Ancient Egypt.

   This line from the Egyptian Book of the Dead is a last example of the date's cultural significance:

"In a clean place shall I sit on the ground. Beneath the foliage of a date palm from the godess Hathor"

~ Exerpt from the book of death.

Recipe

  • 35g ground walnuts
  • 1⁄4 Pc Apple
  • 2 Tsp Cinamon
  • 1 Tsp Cardamom seeds
  • Hand full of dates
  • 1 1⁄2 Tbs honey
  • 1 1⁄2 Tbs water

date candy

Instructions

  1. Grate the quarter of an apple
  2. Sprinkle first four ingredients over the entirety of a plate
  3. Heat the water and mix it with honey
  4. Baster the honey & water over a single date with a spoon or brush
  5. Roll the date over the plate with spices
  6. Repeat


Further discovery

  A video describing what the Ancient Egyptians ate.