Date syrup (silan)

Sirop de dattes (silan)

What it is

Dibs, or silan, is among the oldest sweeteners on record: Mesopotamian tablets account for it by the jar, and the honey of the biblical land of milk and honey is usually read as this rather than the bee's. It is nothing but juice reduced, so the tannin of the skins concentrates alongside the sugar — which is why the finish bites.

In the kitchen

Cut it with an equal weight of tahini for the Levantine dip. As a glaze on lamb or aubergine, keep it to a tablespoon a portion and brush it on late — laid on thick and early, the tannin turns drying and the sugar scorches.

Goes with

Tahini Lamb Eggplant Walnut Yogurt Cardamom Sesame Lemon

Same species

Date Date paste Deglet Nour date Medjool date Date palm jaggery

Also used with

Roasted chicory root

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