East meets West: The Dates Connection is a contest launched by HostMilano and TUTTOFOOD that rewards the most innovative recipes involving the use of dates as devised by the most creative international chefs and pastry chefs. Promoted in collaboration with the Emirates Culinary Guild with the support of the Saudi Arabian Chefs’ Association, Qatar Culinary Professional and the Jordan Restaurant Association, the initiative chose two national finalists in its first stage for each of the five countries taking part: Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E. and Italy.

The first national final, which concerned Jordan, was held at the Alsynior restaurant in Amman, with the backing of the country’s main food and hospitality sector associations (the Jordan Restaurant Association, the Jordan Chefs Association and the Jordan Hotel Association) and was attended by the most representative local media.

In the final challenge the three chefs who won out in the pre-selection process gave live presentations of their recipes online in short videos broadcast on the Emirates Culinary Guild’s YouTube channel. No fewer than 11 chefs from the country’s best restaurants took part: the semi-finalists, voted for by an international panel of experts chosen by Fiera Milano and its partner associations, were Chef Bassam Al Jammal of the Solaya restaurant (who presented a dessert with a date infusion), Chef Sarah Alhares (who made Dates Bomboloni Croquembouche) and Chef Yousef Abudayyeh of Books@Cafe (who came up with a salmon salad with date sauce). The winner of the live challenge was Chef Bassam Al Jammal, who now goes on to become the first finalist of the final challenge.

The national semi-finals continue and will end in February 2023 with the concluding event in Dubai, organised with the support of UAE Restaurant Group, which brings together thousands of restaurants in the United Arab Emirates.