Dates from a Desert Oasis!

According to a Libyan adage "Palm trees have their feet in water and their head in fire," a perceptive assumption in a land where date palms have been cultivated in desert oases for thousands of years. Dates come from the palm tree Phoenix dactylifera and include a large number of different cultivars.


In the picture on the left, you can see unripe dates that were sold at a Texas farmer's market. The date palms, shown on the right above, have burlap bags around the date clusters. This is a common way of drying dates on the tree. The picture is from the Farm Service Agency of the US Department of Agriculture.

I tried some Medjool and Deglet Noor dates. These are among the most common varieties sold in the United States. The picture on the right shows the larger Medjool dates on the bottom and the Deglet Noor dates on the top. The Medjool dates had a stronger, sweeter taste than the Deglet Noor dates according to my palate. 


A wonderful description of Medjool dates and a recipe that combines them with apples and golden raisins can be found at NPR. For snacking, Medjool dates are fantastic, but they contain a large amount of sugar so don't eat too many at a time!


Deglet Noor dates are the kind that are grown commonly in Libya, Algeria, and Tunisia. They are dryer than Medjool dates and make better cooking dates. They are excellent in sweet breads and other deserts.