Dates are used as a base in many of the Middle Eastern charosets. Sometimes they are cooked down into a pure syrup (Iraq), while other times they are blended with raisins and nuts (Morocco), or cooked and mashed into a paste with allspice and ginger (Libya). But the most interesting version of charoset that I learned about was from an Egyptian man from Cairo that I interviewed for the cookbook. His version was the most pure, and I think closest to what the Israelites might have eaten way back in the desert, in Biblical times:
“For the charoset we used to have dates—big, fresh ones—with the nuts on the side. We would make the Bracha, take the date and remove the pit from inside, and dip it into the chopped walnuts and hazelnuts. And then we would eat it.”
— Frank Mayo
