Dates are a big deal in the Middle East. Evidence of their cultivation has been traced to 7000 BC. The prophet Muhammad gave them a good plug in the Koran and they're an important part of the Muslim diet during Ramadan,when they're often eaten in the evening to break the fast.
To be perfectly honest,the only time I come within cooee of a date is at Christmas when someone always manages to produce a box of them that gets picked over but never finished. All that changes in Oman.
Centuries ago here,oil was extracted from the humble date and then poured,boiling,on to the heads of enemies through wonderfully named"murder holes"in their many forts.
And if that's not impressive enough,who was the genius who first took a date,removed the pip,replaced it with an almond and then rolled the whole thing in sesame seeds?
Our group is sitting in the living room belonging to a wonderful chap called Mahsood when this revelation occurs. Mahsood is a good friend of our guide,Said Al Salti,and has invited us to break bread with him in his home.
Resplendent in an immaculate white dishdasha and mussar head scarf,Mahsood has supplied a feast but it's the sesame dates that stick in my mind. First,because the mind boggles at the idea of the boredom and work involved in replacing date pips with almonds - surely it can't be mechanised - and second because they are delicious.
I later learn that you can also buy them covered in chocolate,but this strikes me as the date equivalent of the turducken,and to be avoided at all costs.