Dates are ambiguous in the sense that, depending on the stage of maturity, they can either be classified as a fruit, comparable to any other fruit consumed between meals, or alternatively, as a food source as part of the daily meal, in particular in the rural areas of the date producing countries. Though not a true staple food by definition like rice, potatoes or cassava, dates, on occasion, have been forced to play this role for lack of other staples. In recent times, either because of a decreasing demand for table dates or in an effort to make better use of off-grade fruit, there has been a renewed interest in the date as a food source, not necessarily as a staple food, but rather as a component in food preparations like sweets, confectionery, baking products, institutional feeding and health foods.

In this Chapter a review is made of the use or potential use of dates in combination with other foodstuffs. Only the use of the whole date flesh is considered and therefore all quality standards as imposed on whole dates, except perhaps for blemishes and other external defects, are applicable. In Chapter III: “Derived Date Fruit Products” the use of dates will be extended to a group of products for which the initial quality demands, in particular with regard to foreign matter and insects, are less stringent, because the foreign matter can be effectively removed during processing and will have no effect on the quality of the derived product.

Although demarcations are not always sharp, date products and preparations, based on the use of the whole date flesh, can be classified under: sweets, preserves, condiments, breakfast foods and desserts . In order to follow somewhat the historical developments in this field they are reviewed as home preparations, semi-finished products, and ready-for-use date products after which research work on new date products

1. chopped dates and cream cheese
2. chopped dates, peanut butter, salad dressing in equal amounts, mixed lightly with some lemon juice
3. chopped dates with orange marmalade

1. dates, stuffed with cocktail sausage, oven baked and served on cocktail sticks.
2. dates, stuffed with olives, rolled in thin cream cheese and chopped nuts.
3. dates, stuffed with fondant, nutmeat or candied fruit.
4. date chews, consisting of a mixture of ground dates, chopped nuts, shredded coconut, cream, vanilla, made into balls coated with sugar

1. chopped dates with grapes, peanuts, cottage cheese, bananas, or celery and nutmeats
2. dates stuffed with Philadelphia cheese on pineapple slice served on lettuce

A recipe for a home-made date relish (134) combines chopped, pitted dates with sugar and ground raisins, spiced with garlic, ginger, red pepper, vinegar and a little salt. The mixture is boiled for 15 minutes and used as a sweet-sour condiment.

A simple additional grinding operation will turn the macerated date into date paste. The principle is the same as for prepared minced meat and the fineness of the product can be regulated by the use of different size holes in the discs. Here also, refrigeration may be required to prevent possible fermentation. Date paste is also produced commercially in Saudi Arabia and used for bakery products. The estimated volume of this product is 1,000 tons in this country. A curious non-food application of date paste is that it will, in combination with soap, efficiently stop leaks in gasoline tanks in automobiles (363). This will not open up large markets for date paste, but it may become a life saver on long desert journeys.

Dates filled with nuts and coated with chocolate or stuffed with brightly coloured fondant are only a few of the many date based sweets. Date pastry like halawa or date cookies  and date wafers can be found in many countries. In the U.S., and to a lesser extent in Europe, the popularity of dates especially in the Christmas season, has given rise to a gift parcel trade. It includes attractively packaged and arranged dates and date products which are, on order by the customer, sent by the producer as gift parcels through the postal system. The date products may consist of stuffed and coated dates, date cake with walnuts, date/plum pudding, date preserve and dates in brandy.

Dates filled with nuts and coated with chocolate or stuffed with brightly coloured fondant are only a few of the many date based sweets. Date pastry like halawa or date cookies  and date wafers can be found in many countries. In the U.S., and to a lesser extent in Europe, the popularity of dates especially in the Christmas season, has given rise to a gift parcel trade. It includes attractively packaged and arranged dates and date products which are, on order by the customer, sent by the producer as gift parcels through the postal system. The date products may consist of stuffed and coated dates, date cake with walnuts, date/plum pudding, date preserve and dates in brandy.