Hot Date!

I received an ARC of this cookbook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a wonderful cookbook, full of interesting and varied recipes!

Thank you to Netgalley for this free ARC!

I enjoyed this niche cookbook featuring dates. There was a much wider variety of recipes than I expected. I don't think this is a cookbook I would use for everyday cooking, but it would be fantastic to pull out around the holidays.

The hand drawn artwork is gorgeous, but I would have liked to see more photos of the food too.

I loved all the info it included about the different kinds of dates, and how they are grown. I learned quite a bit! I think this cookbook would be a great gift for someone that does a lot of parties and holiday gatherings.

I received an advance ebook from NetGalley.

Dates have been a source of sustenance and delight for centuries, and this cookbook celebrates them with a multitude of recipes and gorgeous full-color journaling spreads. The recipes are incredibly diverse, most Middle Eastern in influence. Dates are utilized in various forms, from plain pitted to date sugar to date butter and more. A guide to different major varieties begins the book, including an explanation of varying stages of ripeness. All kinds of dishes are described, including appetizers, sides, main dishes, drinks, and desserts. I loved the tone of the book. It’s not formal at all, but friendly and conversational.

Then there is the graphic design. Now, I read this as an ebook, but I can imagine it would be even prettier in printed form. Illustrations dance from page to page, vivid, packed with handwritten verses and old recipes. This would make for a beautiful coffee table book.

Fun and fresh ideas in a great layout. Loved the illustrations and found them easy to read. Informative section on varietals of dates and the ripening process including stages of ripeness. Good to learn about so many varieties of dates and their flavor profiles, I had no idea. My one gripe would be there weren’t enough photographs of the dishes. I prefer that cookbooks have a photo of most if not all of the recipes included. It really helps readers to figure out what to make. Also it would have been nice if there were more non meat options but there are at least a few of those. Nice that not every baking recipe included used eggs.

For some reason as I child I did not like dates - perhaps the texture didn't appeal, or perhaps I had only tried some really dry and crumbly ones. In the past decade or so I discovered the many varieties and flavors of dates (barhi is currently my favorite) via my farmers market . I've also recently learned about their health benefits and started using date syrup in beverages and I want to try using date sugar in baking, so I'm super excited to find this book! The photos and illustrations are beautiful. I love that this book has such a range of recipes not only for different meals of the day but also different cultural influences and flavor profiles. Some recipes that caught my eye include: date and tahini granola, pumpkin pancakes with warm ras el hanout syrup, Moroccan avocado smoothies, barbecue mushroom steaks with cornbread crumbles, lamb & pumpkin pasta, yellow Barhi and green apple kale salad, whole roasted pineapple draped in spiced caramel, and spiced date chili crisp. The book also offers suggested menus and recommended retailers for sourcing dates and other ingredients used in the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I love dates. This book sounded right up my alley. I know I’ll be making a few of these recipes for sure!
So many interesting ideas in this cookbook!