Date honey, date syrup, date molasses, Debes ( ar, دِبس, ), or rub ( ar, رُب, ; he, דְּבַש תמרים ''dvash tmarim'' or סילאן, ''silan''; fa, شیره خرما) is a thick dark brown, very sweet
fruit syrup
Fruit syrups or fruit molasses are concentrated fruit juices used as sweeteners.
Fruit syrups have been used in many cuisines:
* in Arab cuisine, '' rub'', ''jallab'';
* in Ancient Greek cuisine, ''epsima'';
* in Greek cuisine, ''petimezi'';
* ...
extracted from
dates. It is widely used in
Middle Eastern cuisine
Middle Eastern cuisine or West Asian cuisine includes Arab, Armenian, Assyrian, Azerbaijani, Cypriot, Egyptian, Georgian, Iranian, Iraqi, Israeli, Kurdish, Lebanese, Palestinian and Turkish cuisines. Common ingredients include olives ...
and
Maghrebi cuisine
Maghreb cuisine is the cooking of the Maghreb region, the northwesternmost part of Africa along the Mediterranean Sea, consisting of the countries of Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia.
Well-known dishes from the region include ''c ...
.
Nutritional aspects
Date syrup is rich in the monosaccharides
glucose
Glucose is a simple sugar with the molecular formula . Glucose is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, u ...
and
fructose
Fructose, or fruit sugar, is a ketonic simple sugar found in many plants, where it is often bonded to glucose to form the disaccharide sucrose. It is one of the three dietary monosaccharides, along with glucose and galactose, that are absorb ...
.
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
Hypoglycemia, also called low blood sugar, is a fall in blood sugar to levels below normal, typically below 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/L). Whipple's triad is used to properly identify hypoglycemic episodes. It is defined as blood glucose bel ...
, for those with
sucrose intolerance or those with pancreatic problems who have difficulty absorbing disaccharides. Date syrup is higher in magnesium and potassium than some natural sweeteners such as
maple syrup
Maple syrup is a syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Maple tr ...
and
honey
Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...
, and it has been a popular alternative to sugar in recent years. It is also rich in antioxidants due to its high phenolic and flavonoid content
and has been shown to exhibit anti-inflammatory activity.
In national cuisines
It is used widely in
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
, usually with
asida
Asida ( ar, عصيدة, ‘aṣīdah) is a dish with origins from the Maghreb. It is a lump of dough, obtained by stirring wheat flour into boiling water, sometimes with added butter or honey. Similar in texture to fufu, it is eaten in mainly ...
, a porridge-like dessert.
In
Iranian
Iranian may refer to:
* Iran, a sovereign state
* Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran
* Iranian lan ...
and
Iraqi cuisine, date syrup is used to sweeten
tahini
Tahini () or tahina (, ) is a Middle Eastern condiment made from toasted ground hulled sesame. It is served by itself (as a dip) or as a major ingredient in hummus, baba ghanoush, and halva.
Tahini is used in the cuisines of the Levant an ...
, consumed at breakfast. An alternative is
grape syrup.
In
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
, date syrup is used in desserts such as
baghrir.
In the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
and
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...
, 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
Basbousa () is a sweet, syrup-soaked semolina cake that originated in Egypt. The semolina batter is baked in a sheet pan, then sweetened with orange flower water, rose water or simple syrup, and typically cut into diamond (lozenge) shapes or squa ...
, which gives the cake a honey-like taste.
Bangladesh produces around 20,000 tonnes of date molasses in each year.
The
Kalkini Upazila region of Bangladesh is famous for its
date juice and date molasses.
See also
*
Pekmez
Pekmez ( tr, pekmez, az, bəkməz/doşab) is a molasses-like syrup obtained after condensing juices of fruit must, especially grape by boiling it with a coagulant agent like wood ashes or ground carob seeds. It is used as a syrup or mixed with ta ...
*
List of syrups
This is a list of notable syrups. In cooking, a syrup is a condiment that is a thick, viscous liquid consisting primarily of a solution of sugar in water, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars but showing little tendency to deposit cryst ...
References
External links
*
Arab cuisine
Arabic drinks
Algerian cuisine
Sugar substitutes
Syrup
Libyan cuisine
Iraqi cuisine
Palestinian cuisine
Israeli cuisine
Date dishes
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