ARAB USES OF THE DATE 191 



and then made into cakes. The Persian-Indian 

 preparation called bhugrian consists of ripe dates 

 boiled and then fried in oil ; it has the merit of keeping 

 a year or more. 



Often dates are picked just before they are ripe, 

 and pickled in vinegar, when they much resemble 

 pickled walnuts. 



The fruit lends itself particularly well to the 

 manufacture of preserves and jams. One of the 

 best is the mu 'asal of the Persian gulf, which is made 

 by American missionaries at Busreh as follows: 

 Remove the seeds from dates and replace them with 

 walnut meats. Boil down some date syrup (any 

 other good syrup would do), add sesame seeds to 

 taste, and a little rose water for aroma; boil until 

 thick, add the dates, put over the fire and let it come 

 to a boil again; then put into tins or glass jars. 



Here is the Syrian method of preserving dates* 

 (it is almost identical with that widely used in Egypt) : 

 Take the largest dates obtainable, preferably before 

 they are entirely ripe; peel them with a sharp knife, 

 put them in a pot, add a little more than enough water 

 to cover them, boil until they are soft; then slip the 

 seeds out and put an almond or pistachio, with a 

 clove, in the cavity; boil the dates in syrup with a 

 little lemon peel until of the proper consistency; 

 take them off the fire and let them stand over night; 

 then bring to a boil again and put into glass or glazed 

 jars. 



Sometimes choice dates are preserved without 

 cooking, as in the khurma shirah of Persia, for which 

 the choicest dates are dried in the sun on mats, 



*From Khalil al Ntira's cook-book, "A Tax on the Eyes for the 

 Comfort of Stomachs," Bayrtit, 1895. 



