Blue Cheese Stuffed Medjool Dates
Moroccans in Spain Gave Us a Blend Religions, Culture and Cuisine
Add an exotic accent to your table with this sweet-savory blend of Moorish dates and Spanish blue cheese. Appetizer or dessert with sweet Sherry from Jerez-you choose.
These tasty morsels fairly explode flavors in your mouth. Blue cheese and pecans is a rich coupling of long standing. Bed them in together in a king-size Medjool date, anoint them with a splash of Orange Blossom Water and you have a wow.
There’s more to say about the glorious mélange that was Moorish Spain, but you’ll be easier to convince if you first get your mouth around one of these decadent pleasures.
For 24 stuffed dates:
- 1/4 pound Cabrales or other blue cheese, at room temperature (see Notes)
- 12 Medjool dates, halved and seeded
- 24 perfect pecan halves, lightly toasted
- 1/8 cup Orange Blossom Water (optional)
Assembly
- Pipe or mold a tablespoon or so of blue cheese on each date half.
- Dip a pecan half briefly in the Orange Blossom Water (if using) and place it atop the blue cheese mound.
- Serve (or refrigerate for later service, but be sure to let them come to room temperature first)
Notes
The recipe is designed for one of the piquant Spanish blues –Cabrales, Pastor Picon or Valdeon– but don’t be afraid to substitute what you have. As you should whenever you serve blue-veined cheeses, let it come to room temperature first. This works best when your cheese is soft and spreadable. If yours is more crumbly, you can blend in a bit of butter or cream cheese to get the right consistency. These Spanish blues can be ordered from the websites of iGourmet, MasterCaviar, ColorsOfSpain or in the UK, from Norbiton. For some other blue cheeses that would also be wonderful, check out Eleven French Blue Cheeses Compared or Blue Cheese from Tasmania?
Medjool dates are 2-3 times larger than the more common California dates, which will also work in a pinch, but each date half would need only a scant teaspoon of blue cheese. Medjools are more commonly available now, but if you can’t find them locally, order from NutsOnLine website or ParthenonFoods website.
Pecan halves can be toasted, just until they start to color, in a dry frying pan over low flame, or on a baking sheet in the oven at 325°. Transfer to a cool bowl immediately so they don’t continue to cook.
Orange Blossom Water is optional, but the perfume of this element sparks the quantum leap from merely wildly flavorful to exotic. The stuffed dates will be wonderful without it, but try it if you can lay your hands on a bottle at a store with Middle East or Indian specialties, order online from ParthenonFoods website.
To Drink
Any of the traditional accompaniments for blue cheese work here: Sauternes, late-harvest Rieslings and Ports. Apropos of the theme, serve these with Sherry. If you don’t have a favorite Sherry, try Hartley and Gibson’s “Full, Rich Dessert Sherry.” It’s a best buy.
How These Morsels Came to Your Mouth
With the zeal of recent converts, Moorish armies chased the Vandal-Goth-Visigoth crowd out of North Africa and up through present-day Spain. From 711 C.E. what followed were seven centuries of Moorish control of most of the Iberian peninsula, an era marked by culture, learning, religious tolerance, and arguably the most highly evolved examples of Moorish architecture. As in Southern Italy, in Spain today you still see the blending of both culture and cuisine. In 1492 the Moors surrendered their last stronghold, Granada, to the armies of Christian Spain, recently unified when Ferdinand II of Aragon married Isabella I of Castile. These newlyweds launched two other ventures that may be more familiar: Columbus’ three trips by to find a shorter route to India, and the Spanish Inquisition. Two world-changing failures. We may draw some small comfort that, while the Jews and Moslems were driven out of Spain, their culinary legacy lives on.
For more appetizer ideas, try:
- Hot & Cheesy Artichoke Dip
- Smoked Salmon & Rogue Blue Cheese-Stuffed Mushrooms
- Two Styles of Chicken Liver Pate
