Adam and Eve at the table

In the manner of meals from the ancient Near East and biblical tradition, the meal is not divided into starter-main-dessert but is organized around the gifts of the land — the "seven species" (wheat, barley, vine, fig, pomegranate, olive, and date, according to Deuteronomy 8:8). First, bread is broken, then fruits, dairy, and drinks are shared together on a single mat or low table, each person taking as they please, in a spirit of blessing and gratitude.

Long before sugar, it was date syrup — the "honey" that flows in the phrase "land of milk and honey" — that sweetened the table. Dark, thick, deep, it would coat bread as well as figs or curdled milk: the sweet thread that ties all these recipes together.