Breakfast is Caramelised Dates with Eggs

This recipe contest, in partnership with Bait Al Tamur Co., called for the most inventive recipes featuring dates! And the winning recipe, a submission by Ananya Broker Parekh, is a caramelly, sweet-and-savoury breakfast that features runny eggs over melted, chewy dates.

This is a date recipe I love. It's something that my host mum's friend shared with her, and she shared with me, and that's how i learnt it.

A few years ago, I spent some months in Denmark. My Danish mum couch surfs her way around the world. Her experiences were held in bowls of a saag she'd modified, or a bottle of wine that held the memory of a person she got to know through it. As we set the table for breakfast one morning, she told me about a curious version of fried egg she'd eaten in Romania. "It sounds strange, but tastes delicious," she told me. So here it goes, the recipe to the strange-sounding-but-yum-tasting fried egg over dates. The end result is something caramelised, melty, slightly chewy, topped with hearty, salted eggs.

Ingredients
4 eggs
8 dates, sliced
Salted butter
Salt and pepper, a pinch
Cinnamon (optional), a pinch
Buttered bread of your choice (optional)

Method
In a warm pan, add a pat of butter and let it melt. Add the sliced dates in, sautéing for a minute or so. The dates should be slightly caramelised and melty. (If you feel more experimental, you can add a pinch of cinnamon in this step, it lends a Chistmasy flavour).

On low heat, crack the eggs over the dates and let them fry until the egg white is firm, but the yolk is runny. Remove from heat.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and serve with buttered toast.

Thank you to our friends at Bait Al Tamur Co for facilitating this post.

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