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Dates go through different phases before they get to our plates. Take a look at these images of a date in different phases of its growth. What do you see that's different about each one? Guess what might be happening to make them look different and how their taste may change as well. Use the cards below to prompt your thinking. If you’re in a group, discuss with others.

Prompts

Dates go through different phases before they get to our plates. Take a look at these images of a date in different phases of its growth. What do you see that's different about each one? Guess what might be happening to make them look different and how their taste may change as well. Use the cards below to prompt your thinking. If you’re in a group, discuss with others.

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Emirati cuisine has its origins in the creativity and ingenuity of the Bedouin people who found ways to make meals from what was available. The oldest recipes rely on meat from goats and lamb, fish, grains and local herbs. Fruits, vegetables, fish and meat were used fresh when available and any leftovers were preserved for use year-round using techniques such as salting fish (al malih) and drying dates and limes (loomi), As people of the UAE traded with other countries, they added new ingredients to their dishes, such as rice and spices from Iran and India.  
Related Elements
Harees, Dates

Dates, one of the world's oldest cultivated fruits, grow on palm trees in arid climates and are a sweet, and nutrient-dense food source. For thousands of years, people of the Arabian peninsula developed methods of storing and preserving them to provide year-long sustenance both in the desert and out at sea. In addition to being incorporated in a variety of traditional recipes, dates are an integral part of hospitality practices and are offered in Al Majlis as a sweet complement to Gahwa. In 2022, the date palm tree was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. 
 
Related Elements
Al Majlis, Date Palms, Gahwa

Sometimes you may eat a date right after it has fallen from the tree. Other times, our dates come from far away. The UAE even ships dates to other countries, more than any other food!
 Imagine you are a date on your way from a palm tree to a home in the UAE. Now, tell your story.

Instructions

Sometimes you may eat a date right after it has fallen from the tree. Other times, our dates come from far away. The UAE even ships dates to other countries, more than any other food!
 Imagine you are a date on your way from a palm tree to a home in the UAE. Now, tell your story.

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Story 2

Understand the different types and phases of dates, as well as their various uses.

Types of dates

We tapped into shared ingenuity and resilience to build a strong foundation for survival, in tough conditions with limited natural resources. This grew into a culture of craftsmanship and innovation.

Traveling across a sparse landscape, we valued generosity and developed rituals of hospitality. We expressed shared experiences through the arts, building pride and a distinctive way of life across the generations.

As natural explorers between the desert and the sea, we listened and expressed ourselves to the world in equal measure. With growing regional influence and global connections, we became a thoroughfare for goods and ideas.