Dulcia Domestica, Honey-Stuffed Dates
Pitted dates, filled with nuts and spices, rolled in a little salt, then caramelized in warm honey. A soft, very sweet bite, where the salt highlights the sweetness of the fruit and honey.
Pitted dates, filled with nuts and spices, rolled in a little salt, then caramelized in warm honey. A soft, very sweet bite, where the salt highlights the sweetness of the fruit and honey.
When the meats are cleared and the night advances, the hour of sweets comes. Let the dates be brought to me! They are opened, filled with nuts and pepper, passed in salt, then sung in warm honey. This little morsel closes my banquets as a golden seal closes my edicts. Take one, savor it slowly: thus my feasts ended.
- •Dates — a dozen (fruit)
- •Walnuts and pine nuts — a handful (filling)
- •Ground pepper — a pinch (contrast)
- •Salt — a little (enhancer)
- •Honey — for candying (cooking medium)
Dulcia Domestica, Honey-Stuffed Dates
Pitted dates, filled with nuts and spices, rolled in a little salt, then caramelized in warm honey. A soft, very sweet bite, where the salt highlights the sweetness of the fruit and honey.
Why this dish? At the end of great imperial banquets came the *mensa secunda*, the time for sweets and fruits. *Dulcia domestica*—dates stuffed with nuts, rolled in salt, and candied in honey—were a cherished dessert of the elite, worthy of closing a feast at Constantine's court.
When the meats are cleared and the night advances, the hour of sweets comes. Let the dates be brought to me! They are opened, filled with nuts and pepper, passed in salt, then sung in warm honey. This little morsel closes my banquets as a golden seal closes my edicts. Take one, savor it slowly: thus my feasts ended.
Ingredients (period version)
- Dates — a dozen (fruit)
- Walnuts and pine nuts — a handful (filling)
- Ground pepper — a pinch (contrast)
- Salt — a little (enhancer)
- Honey — for candying (cooking medium)
Ingredients
- Medjool dates, pitted — 12 (fruit)
- Walnut halves — 12 pieces (filling)
- Pine nuts — 1 tablespoon (filling)
- Black pepper — 1 pinch (contrast)
- Fine salt — 1 pinch (enhancer)
- Honey — 4 tablespoons (cooking medium)
Method
- Open the dates and remove the pits.
- Fill each with a walnut half and a few pine nuts, plus a touch of pepper.
- Close the dates and roll them very lightly in salt.
- Heat the honey in a pan and candy the dates for 2 to 3 minutes, turning them.
- Let cool slightly and serve drizzled with the cooking honey.
How it was made : The recipe for *dulcia domestica* appears in Apicius: pitted dates stuffed with walnuts, pine nuts, or ground pepper, salted, then fried in honey. It was a typical dessert of the Roman *mensa secunda*, which played on the contrast of sweet, salty, and spicy.
The contemporary twist : Sprinkle with a pinch of fleur de sel and serve as bite-sized end-of-meal treats, 'à la romaine'.
Sources : Apicius, De re coquinaria, book VII (Dulcia)
Constantine I · Charactorium
