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To Date

We’re just over here thinking about dates

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Whilst taking our morning coffee-fetching constitutional with a co-worker, we made note of how much we enjoy a date. There was no agenda to this statement, but rather ‘twas a simple “you like dates?” prompt that led us down a path of date-thought from which we’ve been unable to escape. We’re here; we love dates; get used to it. And, since you know how much we like to get out there and learn more about the foods we eat, we’ve been all a-flutter online looking up facts about the date—this now becomes your problem. We’re not sure why our mind works this way. Like, we sometimes need to know the etymology of words (like “sincere,” which we learned is derived from the term “without wax,” which is to say that it’s basically like announcing, “I know this letter isn’t sealed with wax, but I for sure mean the words that are all up in it!”).

Anyway, like this, we’re a bit of a food etymologist, or, at the very least, a serious appreciator who finds the fact that any person, any thing, any food exists to be a miracle (just look at what pre-domesticated bananas look like and tell us humans aren’t clever). We’re also apparently a huge fan of the parenthetical. But we digress. The point is, we’re out here eating dates, and everyone should do the same. Perhaps this very real and in no way jokey missive about the humble fruit might sway you to get some of your own. Just keep in mind they’re pretty dang sugary, so do the moderation. 

Speaking of etymology, we learned that the word “date” comes from the Greek “daktylos,” which means finger. Likely this is because a date can sometimes sort of look a bit like a finger, though that word “daktylos” is sometimes contextually used for “toe,” which is good news for foot fetishists and maybe bad news for the rest of us. Oh, Greeks—always naming stuff after stuff that looks like stuff. Anyway, the prevailing thought is that date actually became cultivated in the area that is today Iraq some 8,000 (give or take) years ago. 

Since they pretty much spent eons copying the Greeks’ homework, the Romans were down with dates, too. Apparently they were a popular snack at the Colosseum, particularly when stuffed with nuts or honey or nuts and honey. Who doesn’t want a little treat when they’re watching lions maul some poor enslaved fella who likely would have preferred to be anywhere else that day? Is there a modern day equivalent to this? Something about football and CrackerJack and the concussion rates of NFL players that lead to sooooo many mental and emotional issues later? Are you not entertained? #AmericaIsDumb #RomeWuzDum 

As humankind has consumed dates for roughly a bajillion years, it’s rather interesting that not all that many people are allergic to them. We know plenty of folks allergic to other stone fruits, but our research suggests that it wasn’t until fairly recently that more folks started popping up with date allergies specifically. One of the big indicators that you might be allergic to dates is if you already know you have latex fruit syndrome, which is a tragic condition that finds folks allergic to natural rubbers also allergic to various fruits. For example, we had a buddy named Dave who was allergic to latex, and this was somehow looped into his allergy for avocados. Can you imagine not having guac? Nightmare. 

We mentioned that dates are a stone fruit, and we learned that said stone is sometimes used in soapmaking and eyeliner. Hot. Where can we get this date stone soap? And is there a nü metal band called Date Stone Soap? That’s Stone Sour? And they suck out loud? Word. Our bad. Anyway, if anyone is curious, we found a beauty website called Zena that has that stuff, but we didn’t vet it so much as it was one of the first things that comes up when you Google “date stone, eyeliner.” Here’s a link if you’re curious. 

This entire edition of Le Fork was born from a date conversation that included our statement, “You wouldn’t think coffee and dates would go together, but it worked.” In this case, “it working” was in reference to a tiramisu we once had from a chef who made the whole thing from dates (date sugar, some kind of date flour and date syrup plus date coffee and a date-infused mascarpone kinda thing). “Au contraire, you stupid idiot,” our co-worker responded, “there are many places in the world where people drink coffee and eat dates. Bitch.” That’s a paraphrase, but that’s the gist of what they said. And it did make us look up dates and coffee, and it’s for sure a thing. Some folks online can teach you how to make a caffeine-free coffee-like drink from dates (but what’s the point without the drug?) and others will tell you that it’s a real nice little snack to merge the two. Side note? Looking up “coffee” and “dates” is hard, because it’s mostly influencers wondering why no one loves them after a million coffee dates. The answer is, of course, obvious: Influencers don’t deserve love or happiness. 

Like coffee, the health benefits of dates are surprisingly many. Them little fingies is packed with zinc, copper, magnesium, iron, calcium, copper, zinc, copper, magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, magnesium, iron, copper, copper, calcium, zinc, iron and copper. Plus iron and copper and zinc! That’s not even getting into the fiber benefits and the generally low-cal nature of a cup of them bad boys. In fact, we’ve seen it suggested that you could likely survive on dates alone for a little bit, y’know, if you were in a pinch. #Zinc

The weird thing about growing dates is that the date palm tree likes it hot. Like, really hot. Word on the street is that date palms like a balmy 100-degree heat kinda condition, which is weird because they also like a lot of water. In other words, you’re never gonna get it going at home unless you live in Arizona or something, in which case please accept our deepest apologies. Because of (or perhaps in spite of) the whole specific-conditions-needed nature of date palms, you’ll be glad to know that the seeds can go dormant for a really long time if they aren’t ready to do their date thing. 

We found out a lot more, but since we’ve waxed so long, our word count is dwindling—so here’s one last item for you: There are more than 200 types of dates out there, each different from the last. If you’re reading this in the United Dates—sorry, States—you’ll most likely be familiar with Medjool and Zahidi dates, but there are all those others out there just waiting for you to try. Do any of our readers prefer some other kind? We’d love to hear about that.

Also

  • We regret to inform you Ohori’s Coffee Roasters’ flagship St. Francis location will no longer be open on Sundays, at least according to a sign we saw on the door the other day. The Luna location (attached to CHOMP food hall) will still be open til 5 on Sundays. If you’d like to know a little more about the shop, including its connection to Peet’s, read this. 
  • Speaking of sad signs, it seems Saigon Café will be closed through Nov. 3. We know that’s only a few days, but we thought you should know in case you love that place. 
  • Three cheers for Patrick [last name not provided], a Santa Fe man who has volunteered for local nonprofit Kitchen Angels for 15 years now. If’n you don’t know Kitchen Angels, you should—the local org has been delivering meals to homebound Santa Feans for longer than we can even remember, and you can totally donate or learn more by clicking right here.
  • While we’re talking about anniversaries, let us extend a hearty “way to go!” to Rancho de Chimayo, which turned the big Six-Oh (that’s 60) recently. The b-day is at least a little bittersweet given that longtime owner Florence Jaramillo died last month, but we think it speaks to her legacy that folks are still excited about the food after so many decades. To celebrate, the restaurant is offering a number of specials, just click the website link above to learn more. 
  • We’re pretty sure we mentioned Joe’s Diner had changed its name to Joe’s Diner & Pizza under its new ownership, and they’ve got new hours to boot. We’d tell you here, but we’re all about helping them locals get clicks, baby! So click this, dang. We’re excited to check out the new direction of the restaurant. If you’ll recall, we felt hoodwinked when a number of readers suggested we eat at Joe’s under its previous ownership, and then we just thought it wasn’t very good.
  • We have a bit of a debate question for all y’all, and you can answer via [email protected]: Potatoes in brekkie b’s…are cubed potatoes a bunch of bullshit? As in, if you like potatoes in your breakfast burrito, do you prefer it to be hashbrowns? We do. But some folks have told us they like it the cubed way. This seems like madness on the face of it, and we want your thoughts. 
  • We have a helpful piece about New Mexico officials and the work they’re doing to anticipate a pause in SNAP benefits during the gov’t shutdown. If you get these benefits, you might want to read this. Our take? We have enough food for everyone and it’s insane we don’t just let people eat it. 

More Tidbits

  • In reasons you should drink more coffee news, Food and/or Wine-dot-com has a rather interesting piece by regular contributor Stacey Leasca about how spent coffee grounds have more uses than we ever thought possible. We’re talking reinforcement for concrete, a reduction in landfill waste and strengthening mortar. Cool! We like when things come in threes, though there’s probably more to learn through this link. 
  • We’ve bookmarked the website Foodtank-dot-com, because it gets into a lot of interesting angles of food, and they have a pretty handy news roundup feature that helps us feel more informed. We hope you keep reading our newsletter, too, but we honestly think there’s room for all. Like, theirs is all “news and real stuff!” and we’re just like, “our dumb buddy made us think about dates.”
  • We don’t know when Mintel-dot-com is, but we stumbled upon its predictions for emerging food trends in 2026. You can take a look here and compare against your own predictions, which we say like everyday people think about food trends in the coming year. Sheesh. 

In Summation

We’ve been seeing more collagen in foods lately, and we think that’s kind of cool. We grant you that our collagen intake was never much of a concern before very recently as our face started to look like that of a Dick Tracy villain, but we’ve spied countless treats, snacks, drinks and more with collagen all up in them. And while we’re adding this to our regular intake, we have to ask if anyone out there has done the same and if they have any hot tips for tasty collagen foods? Thanks! 

Dating ourselves,

The Fork