This recipe is from my Aunty Pnina in Israel. She makes this traditionally when people get married and this is part of the pre-marriage celebration festivities. It originates from the Moroccan side of the world and has seeped comfortably onto the Olami table. This is a totally vegan recipe.
Recipe extracted from Olami, written by Nirit Saban
About Olami
“Olami was established in 2016, but has been running as a catering and deli kitchen for the past six years under the former name of Sababa. With the new name change I decided to create a global menu, combining my love for travel, different cultures, art, dance and music and using food as a medium and a base to create, recreate and explore.I am constantly inspired by things around me which is so important; acknowledging the magnitude of life itself has taken me 360 degrees in all aspects of food and food preparation and yet what my heart desires and craves almost always is the simplest, most wholesome glorious meal.”
OLAMI date and nut roll
Ingredients
- 1 cup castor sugar/coconut
- blossom sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 500 g date block, chopped into chunks
- 2 tablespoons water
- 150 g roasted almonds, slightly chopped
- 150 g roasted pecans, slightly chopped
- 150 g roasted walnuts, slightly chopped
- 150 g roasted hazelnuts, slightly chopped
- 1 cup toasted sesame seeds for rolling
Instructions
In a medium-size pot melt the sugar with the honey. When it starts to melt add the chopped date blocks and, with a wooden spoon, keep stirring and breaking it down on a low heat continuously until it is smooth.
Add 2 tablespoons of water to loosen it up slightly. Remove from the heat and then add all the roasted nuts and stir well.
In a large baking tray lined with foil, add the toasted sesame seeds to create a sesame layer so when adding the date and nut mix you roll the foil with the sesame seeds and create a sesame-coated date-and-nut salami shape. Transfer to a clean cling-film base that you can rewrap and roll. Place in the freezer for at least 3 hours or overnight. When preparing to slice your date and nut salami, defrost the salami in the fridge an hour before and then slice into 2-cm disks.
Olami is available at all major bookstores from mid-October and will retail for R330.
Imka Webb is a freelance digital marketing expert and the digital editor of Food & Home Entertaining magazine. www.imkawebb.com
