On a recent trip to Israel, I became infatuated with silan, or date honey. The sweet cola-colored syrup seemed to be everywhere: drizzled over roasted cauliflower; enriching sauteed eggplant; paired with tahini on a sandwich, the peanut butter and jelly of the Middle East. I brought ajar home and started stirring it into yogurt, salad dressings, and braising liquids—anywhere that honey or maple syrup might go—to impart a concentrated dried-fruit richness. Silan is simply a boiled-down date and water mash. Though it was new to me, it has been a Middle Eastern staple for millennia; in the Bible, mentions of honey refer not to bees' honey, but to date honey._ — Gabriella Gershenson_