The Desert’s Dessert

As we roamed through the oasis in the desert of Morocco, our driver said there were 22 different types of date trees.

The best dates are Medjools, which we can get here in Portland.

Hundreds of years ago, a Saudi prince visited Morocco and showed the denizens how to imbue a barren tree with dates from another type of palm tree, said Saleem, our driver.

The impressed Morrocans gifted a royal daughter to the prince, thus cementing a fruitful—as well as political—relationship.

Dates were likely the fruits that Eve offered Adam, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organization.