Morocco is renowned the world over for its delicious food and the deep understanding Moroccan chefs have of how to combine spices. Ras el-hanout, for example, is a spice mix that can contain anything from six up to 100 different spices. These include cinnamon, mace, cayenne pepper and nutmeg, as well as more unusual ingredients such as lavender, dried rosebuds, ash berries and monk’s pepper, the latter supposedly an aphrodisiac.
The English word ‘coffee’ is said to originate from the Arabic qahwa, which in turn is believed to come from Kaffa, the place in Ethiopia where coffee was discovered over a thousand years ago. Coffee is an important part of socializing and hospitality is Morocco and the drink is served black, often infused with cardamom. This spice is one of the essentials in any Moroccan kitchen and is also used to flavor tea, desserts and tajines (stews).
This recipe uses the classic duo of coffee and cardamom, combined with succulent dates for an exotic, fragrant dessert that takes just minutes to make but is heavenly to eat.
Tip: This dessert is not suitable for children as it contains strong coffee, but makes a delicious alternative to espresso after a meal for adults. For something even more grown up, add a tablespoon of coffee liqueur such as Kahlua to the coffee mix before pouring over the dates.
Serves 4.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Chilling time: 1 hour or up to a day
Ingredients:
- 14 oz / 400 g stoneless dates
- 15 fl oz / 450 ml strong black coffee
- 10 cardamom pods
- 1 heaped teaspoon sugar
Preparation:
- Put the dates in a large bowl.
- Brew the coffee, measure out the correct amount in a measuring jug and add the sugar to it. With the handle of a knife gently crush the cardamom pods and their seeds. Add these to the coffee.
- Stir the coffee mix until the sugar has dissolved. Taste and add a little more sugar at this point if the coffee is too bitter - it should still have a bit of a ‘bite’, however. Note: If using coffee liqueur, add this first and adjust the amount of sugar accordingly.
- Leave the coffee to stand for 5 minutes to allow the flavors to develop before pouring over the dates through a sieve. Discard the cardamom pods and seeds.
- Let the coffee cool for about 10 minutes before transferring the bowl to the fridge to chill.
- The dessert should ideally stand in the fridge for 24 hours before being eaten, as the flavors will continue to develop and the coffee sauce become thick and syrupy. But for a dessert the same day, give it at least an hour.
- Divide the dates between four colorful bowls and serve with thick yogurt or quark to offset the dessert’s sweetness.
Cecily Layzell - Cecily Layzell is a food and travel writer and founder of restaurant review site www.eat-amsterdam.com.
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