You'll find dates in salads, appetisers, main courses, sauces, desserts - the list goes on. The sticky-sweet fruit is incredibly versatile, and fossils of the date palm suggest that they're over 50 million years old. They were also one of the first tree crops ever cultivated by humans, around 6,000 years ago. This isn’t surprising considering the energy and flavour packed in just one date. And here we are today, with dates in every supermarket and abundant recipes to enjoy them.
What Are Dates?
Dates are a variety of sweet fresh stone fruit that is also eaten dried. Dates are also good source of natural sugar, and you'll see granulated date sugar and date syrup available in many supermarkets. Once pitted, dates can be used in just about anything. Chopped and added to salads or cookies or cakes, they bring their unique sweetness to all. There are many cultures in North Africa and the Middle East where plates of dates and nuts and other dried fruits are always on the table, no matter what the occasion. In Mexico, where dates are fecha de la fruta in Spanish, they have been used in moles and other sauces since the Spaniards brought them over in the early 1500s.
What Do Dates Taste Like?
Dates are sweet when they’re fresh off the tree and become even sweeter and chewy as they dry. They have a caramel-honey like flavour that can be compared to raisins, but once you try one, you’ll remember the taste and be able to identify it as a date forever. The different varieties of dates have individual flavour profiles, but all are easy to identify as dates. Texturally, they have a skin which is noticeable when you eat one whole, but not when they are cooked.
Where Do Dates Come From?
Dates are native to North Africa and the Middle East, where they grow on palm trees called (unsurprisingly) date palms. They grow at the tops of the trees in huge clusters, just under the palm fronds that are typically 65 to 85 feet up in the air. Many are hand harvested, which means a human in a safety rig climbs the tree and picks them. Most dates are left on the tree to ripen and dry out, an energy-efficient, solar-powered preservation process that ensures a long shelf life when harvested. Dates have been featured for eons in the cuisines of the areas where they grow naturally.
Types of Dates
There are two types of dates readily available at grocery stores across the UK., Medjool and Deglet Noor. Medjool dates are the most common and what you’ll find when you buy whole dates, so they’re your go-to in any recipe that calls for dates. They’re plump and juicy, with a flavour that skews towards maple syrup. Deglet Noor are the variety of dates most often found in packages of pitted and chopped dates, and they’re perfect for stirring into recipes like cookies and cakes, chutneys and sauces. They save a lot of pitting time.
