Around the World in 80 Plates: Date syrup and cheese from Beesel and Beemster, the Netherlands

This is an installment of the Inlander's yearlong project "Around the World in 80 Plates," a quest to find 80 foods and drinks in Spokane representing 80 different places. Read the introduction to the project here.

Count of dishes/places: 11

Unfortunately for the people around me, I love puns.

I also spent a semester of college in Jerusalem, which gave me ample opportunity for one of my favorite foods and puns.

Whenever I got the chance, I took a small, soft, sticky fruit between my thumb and forefinger, leaned too close to the person next to me, batted my eyelashes ferociously and asked, "Wanna date?"

Oh, the groans. The eye rolls. But I could not be stopped. It was just too delicious.

Repetition, it turns out, is the death of a good pun. Good wordplay relies on the element of surprise.

Good food has an element of surprise, too. This week's Around the World installment features ancient, common foods that come from a surprising place. It's been a lesson in paying attention to the small type and the back of the jar.

Turns out getting curious can lead you to lots of surprises — in life, with work, with food, or with a date.  ;)

BASRA DATE MOLASSES: BEESEL, THE NETHERLANDS


Date molasses, also called date syrup, date honey, date nectar, debes, or silan, is one of the oldest foods in the book. Sumerians may have started cultivating dates as early as 4000 BCE. Concentrating the fruit into a syrupy preserve probably would've followed soon after.

Dates are an important part of breaking the Ramadan fast in the Islamic tradition. They're one of the seven holy fruits in Judaism. When a certain area of land is described to Moses as "flowing with milk and honey," the honey probably actually refers to date syrup. The poetic image is a shorthand way to summarize the land's ability to support agriculture (dates and date honey) and livestock (goat or sheep milk).

I found Basra Date Molasses when I was perusing Lebanon Deli & Grocery soon after it opened on Newport Highway.  Since dates are native to the Middle East and Basra is the second largest city in Iraq, I just assumed the molasses came from the city it was named for.

But when I got home, I read the label fully. On the back of the jar, the molasses was marked "Product of Netherlands."

The Netherlands? How did the Dutch get involved in this cornerstone of the Fertile Crescent?

Turns out, I'm not the only one confused. Plenty of space on the company's website is dedicated to clarifying this unexpected East and West partnership.

Frumarco is a popular fruit syrup producer in the Netherlands, specifically in Beesel, a city in the southeastern province of Limburg. If there's a country to be in the fruit syrup business, it's probably the Netherlands, where breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks often consist of spreading things on bread.

Frumarco's team met Mr. Maan, an Iraqi date syrup producer, in 1997. They officially joined forces a year later — Mr. Maan brought the product and Frumarco brought the technique. Together, they created a delicious date syrup that doesn't crystallize — a very convenient, popular trait.

If you've ever gotten close to the bottom of a honey jar, you've probably been frustrated by hardened, super sticky honey that's near impossible to squeeze out or dig out with a knife. Date syrup often crystallizes the same way. But not Basra. This date molasses has been sitting on my cold kitchen shelf for months, and it is just as silky and smooth as it was the first day I cracked it open.

In fact, "molasses" is a bit misleading. Basra date syrup is thinner and runnier than honey, more similar to the viscosity of warm maple syrup, though it has more flavor than either. It can be subbed for both in most recipes, but it adds darker, earthier notes to anything it touches. It is crazy sweet and basically pure sugar, but ever since cane sugar substitutes started getting attention, it's been touted as a healthier alternative with alleged anti-inflammatory and heart healthy benefits.

Basra Date Molasses is now distributed across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, and North and Central America. In Middle Eastern countries, date syrup is often paired with other common ingredients like tahini, which is an unstoppable combo.

But I don't cook in an Iraqi kitchen, so I create unorthodox pairings with my date syrup.  My current obsession is roasted sweet potato with peanut butter and a drizzle of debes.

Because if I've learned anything, it's that unlikely partnerships sometimes get the best results. An ancient Levantine ingredient produced by high tech Dutch engineers enjoyed by an American? Na'am! Ja! Yes!

MUSTARD SEED GOUDA: BEEMSTER, THE NETHERLANDS


Yes, cheese comes from all over the world. And yes, cheese from northern Europe isn't especially surprising.

But if you take a second to Google "Beemster, " you'll find lots more intrigue than most dairy products. There's urban planning ideas from the Renaissance. There's climate action. There's power-to-the-people rumblings and praises from royalty.

And, yes, there's also just really, really good cheese.

Beemster is the name of an area of Holland just north of Amsterdam. The Beemster Polder was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1999 for the impact it had on Dutch and European city planning.

Polders are popular in the Netherlands — they're areas of low-lying land "reclaimed" from a body of water, aka drained, and protected by dikes. The land is often unusually fertile and rich, which produces really nice things to eat.

In 1612, Lake Beemster was drained and reorganized into agricultural land, roads, canals and homesteads. It was the first polder in the Netherlands. The land was divided based on mathematical ratios preferred by classical and Renaissance artists and scientists. The lavish pastures became popular for grazing cattle. The cows probably didn't care as much about the geometry as the grass.

In 1901, Beemster dairy farmers formed a co-op to protect the land and market their milk and cheeses to local distributers. In 1970, Beemster Kaas (kaas means "cheese") became a brand. In 2001, Beemster became a supplier to the Royal Court of the Netherlands. In 2020, Beemster became the first Dutch dairy to be certified climate neutral by the Climate Neutral Group.

I first heard of Beemster cheese at Alpine Delicatessen, a small German bakery and import shop on Third Avenue just east of downtown Spokane. They paired the mustard seed gouda with schinken, the German version of prosciutto, and a dill pickle on their Bavarian platter lunch special. The young, creamy gouda plays perfectly with salt and brine.

But if you're not in the neighborhood, Beemster cheese is also sold at Huckleberry's Natural Market, Rocket Market, and multiple Yoke's Fresh Markets, Super 1 Foods and Trading Company outposts around Spokane and Coeur d'Alene. What's more, the Beemster website says most of their cheeses are naturally lactose-free, a by-product of how many times they wash the curds during the cheesemaking process.

So Google your cheese! Your lactose-free friend might just thank you. You might find out you're holding a national treasure in your hand. You might learn about 17th century art. Or you might not find any of these things. But you never know. Get GOUDA at paying attention. Be curious and a little mis-CHEESE-ious.

Okay, fine. I'm done.♦

Have an idea for what I should eat next? Wanna make me a favorite dish from your hometown? Have a favorite food pun? Send 80 Plates tips and ideas to elizab@inlander.com.