Khoshaf

The dried fruit compote of the Egyptian Ramadan table, dates, apricots, figs, and raisins left overnight in rosewater and orange blossom with almonds and pine nuts

Origin: Cairo, Egypt

From the journey of Date.

Khoshaf is on the table at sunset in Ramadan in a very large number of Egyptian households, and it is on it every night of the month. Dried fruit and nuts are put to soak in scented water and simply left; there is no cooking at all. By the following evening the fruit has swollen, the sugars have come out into the liquid, and the whole thing has become its own syrup. The logic of the dish is the logic of the fast. A person who has not eaten or drunk since before dawn needs sugar, water, and something gentle, and khoshaf supplies all three at once in a form that can be made the day before. That is also why the dates are the first thing eaten, in accordance with the Prophet's practice, and why the bowl goes down beside the qamar al-din apricot drink rather than after the meal. The name comes from Persian khūshāb, pleasant water, and it travelled with the same word into Turkish hoşaf and the Balkan compotes; but the Egyptian and Levantine version, heavy with nuts and scented with two flower waters, is its own thing. In Syria and Lebanon it is essentially the same dish, and in some households the soaking liquid is sweetened with dibs, date syrup, rather than sugar. Egypt is normally the largest date producer in the world, and khoshaf is where its soft Hayany and pressed Siwi dates end up when they are not eaten out of the hand.

Ingredients

Dried fruit

  • 200 g soft dates (Hayany, Siwi or Medjool), stoned and halved
  • 150 g dried apricots
  • 100 g dried figs, stems removed and quartered
  • 100 g prunes, stoned
  • 75 g raisins or sultanas

Nuts

  • 50 g blanched almonds
  • 50 g walnut halves
  • 25 g pine nuts
  • 30 g shelled pistachios

Soaking liquid

  • 750 ml cold water
  • 3 tbsp honey, sugar or date syrup
  • 2 tbsp rosewater
  • 1 tbsp orange blossom water

Method

  1. Soak the almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, and pistachios in cold water in a separate bowl for at least four hours, then drain them.
  2. Put all the dried fruit into a large glass bowl. Halve any very large dates or figs; leave the apricots and prunes whole.
  3. Dissolve the honey, sugar, or date syrup in the cold water, then stir in the rosewater and the orange blossom water.
  4. Pour the scented liquid over the fruit. It should cover it; add a little more water if not. Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight, or for at least eight hours.
  5. An hour before serving, stir in the drained nuts.
  6. Serve cold in glass bowls, with a little of the syrup spooned over each.

Notes

The flower waters are the part people get wrong. Both are strong, brands vary enormously in strength, and too much turns the bowl soapy. Start with less than the recipe says if you do not know your bottle. The mixture of fruit is not fixed. Dried apple rings, dried plums, and Persian mulberries are all used, and the proportions shift with what is in the house. For a Syrian and Lebanese version, sweeten the water with date syrup rather than sugar and add a strip of orange peel to the soak. Khoshaf is not the same as Turkish hoşaf, which is generally a single fruit stewed in light syrup and served warm, although both descend from the same Persian word.

The Gastrographer

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