As a nod to our week of tropical sun and sand, I offer today a refreshing orange salad, rich with sweet, gooey dates, and fragrant with exotic rosewater. This is the kind of fruit salad that, served with brunch, makes your guests think you are a genius.
There’s a well-known restaurant in London, Moro, the owners of which (a married couple, both named Sam, a fact that amuses me to no end) have written three beautiful cookbooks. Their recipes are mostly Spanish, with some Arab influences (which makes sense, if you remember your Spanish history). This one is from Casa Moro. It makes me wish with all my heart that I had visited the restaurant when I had the chance. I hereby vow to do so, as soon as possible. This is their recipe, pretty much as they wrote it.
Orange and Date Salad with Rosewater
Serves 44 large juicy oranges, or 5-6 blood oranges in the winter (I like to use a mix, for the visual impact)
8-12 dates, preferably Medjool, stoned and broken up roughly or quartered lengthways
a generous sprinkling of rosewater (about 2-3 tablespoons)
a handful of small fresh mint leaves*
a fine dusting of icing sugar (I think this is what is known in the US as caster sugar)
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
a small handful of dried rose petals (optional)With a sharp knife, cut the rind off each orange, leaving no bitter yellow pith. Slice each orange into rounds, discard any seeds and arrange on a plate. Scatter the dates over the orange, then sprinkle the rosewater on top. Scatter with mint leaves, then dust with icing sugar and cinnamon. Finish with a few rose petals.
*I left these off this time, because my garden is dormant at the moment, and I have such an aversion to buying mint, given how much I grow. But it does give this salad a lovely vibrant freshness, so if you can bring yourself to buy one of those little boxes at the grocery store, by all means do.