 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 16 - 22 December 1999 Issue No. 460 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 16 - 22 December 1999 Issue No. 460
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Debate Focus Profile Living Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters A date with history
During the holy month of Ramadan, dates are everywhere: street stalls and upscale supermarkets alike boast displays creaking with the rich bullet-shaped fruits, writes Reham El-Adawi. They hang in ripe red clusters from their fibrous stalks in summer, or nestle, brown and tender, in tissue-lined crates; winter finds them dried and packed tightly in sweet and chewy blocks.In Egypt, dates are called balah -- their name in Coptic. Throughout the Arabian Peninsula, they are referred to as tamr. Palm trees were introduced to Spain by the Arabs; the Spaniards then took the palm to the Americas. At any rate, dates were highly appreciated by the Babylonian ruler Hamurabi, whose famous 200-article decree featured seven articles devoted exclusively to palm trees. Hamurabi imposed a fine of 225 grams of silver upon any of his subjects found cutting down a palm tree. The Sumerians, too -- one of the world's earliest developed civilisations -- used palm leaves and fronds in decoration and for ceremonial purposes.
Nor did general interest in dates abate with the Sumerians. Only last month, Assiut University organised an International Date Palm Conference, the first of its kind, attended by delegates from Libya, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Kuwait, Morocco, Iraq and Syria as well as Iran. Sixty-two research papers were discussed in 12 seminars devoted to every possible aspect of date palms: types of trees, cultivation, environmental implications, blights, pests, treatment, the processing and packing of dates, new markets in Europe and Asia...
Over 60 million palm trees grow in the Arab world -- 70 per cent of global production. In 1996, almost 7.5 million palm trees were growing on two million feddans in Egypt alone, most of which were concentrated in the oases of the Western Desert. A palm tree is a sturdy tree: it can tolerate severe weather conditions, including high temperatures and high levels of soil salinity. Egyptian cultivators like it because it does not weaken the soil or prevent the growth of crops in adjacent fields. Nor does the palm tree require fertilisers and chemicals to flourish.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation has launched a campaign to develop the cultivation of date-yielding palm trees throughout Egypt, and particularly in the southwestern desert regions, as part of a sustainable development project. Last year, this campaign really got off the ground when 5,000 top-quality seedlings produced by Iraq and Saudi Arabia were imported from France. This year 500,000 date-yielding palm trees were planted in the Red Sea governorate, of which 50 per cent went to Hurghada alone. Drivers may also have noticed the almost miraculous sprouting of hundreds of palm trees on the Cairo-Alexandria desert road and the Cairo-Helwan Corniche.
Egyptian dates grow in many shapes and colours: Rutab (soft dates), for example, must be harvested at exactly the right time and sun-dried to increase their sugar content and prevent spoilage. Nutritionist Dr Mohamed Nofal says dates contain a very high percentage of sugar (70-80 per cent); the fructose and glucose they contain are high in calories, but easily and quickly digested. Dates contain 2.2 per cent protein as well as vitamins A, B1, B2 and trace minerals like potassium, sodium, calcium, iron and copper. Pregnant women throughout the Arab world are encouraged to eat dates for their high nutritional value; their newborn babies are fed dates as well. Many parents place a piece of well-chewed date in the mouth of their newborn, a custom The Independent newspaper found remarkable enough to report on (9 June 1995). The results of a study published in the British Medical Journal confirmed the benefits of giving a newborn child sugar to reduce pain following procedures like circumcision.
Everything about the palm tree is useful: the leaves and stalks are used as fuel. Gourmets will be more interested, of course, in date marmalade and pressed dates with sesame. Shehata Ahmed Abdel-Fattah, an expert in date manufacturing, explains that the Bedouins use the oil extracted from date pits as fuel or ointment; they also grind the pits and add the resulting powder to their coffee. Natural dyes are extracted from the peel as well.
You can find specially packaged dates for every occasion: to be given as alms, to be consumed after a long day of fasting, handy travel packs and family-sized portions. Then again, perhaps more sophisticated dates -- stuffed with almonds, hazelnuts or raisins -- are more to your taste. Nor do the date palm's many uses end there: the trunks can be used to strengthen other construction materials in low-income housing.
Date palms, however, are facing a devastating threat in the form of the Red Palm Weevil. Participants in last month's conference were particularly concerned with this pesky little critter, which can wipe out entire crops without blinking a beady eye. Insecticides have failed to counter the attack, and the Ministry of Agriculture has declared war, introducing protective measures in areas like Ismailia, Sharqiya and the North Coast. Will the weevil win? This Ramadan, at least, you can ponder the question while chewing on a nice chocolate-coated date.
