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What can you do with fresh dates?

#1
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8/25/09 at 2:52am
  • Joined: September 2008
  • Location: Los Angeles, CA
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At my local Farmer's Market they have fresh dates right now. I LOVE dates, but never had a fresh one before. Tried it, and ..... it was horrible. Like an unripe fruit, not that sweet, kinda tough, etc... even the guy who was selling them told me he didn't like them. So I bought a pack of dry dates and went home.

But now I'm thinking... anyone here has ever cooked with fresh dates? What about a Tajine maybe?

When you cook them, do they soften (I suppose so)? Are they sweeter once cooked?
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#2
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8/25/09 at 5:24am
  • Joined: February 2007
  • Location: Central Kentucky---where the bluegrass meets the mountains
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>Like an unripe fruit, not that sweet, kinda tough,...<

Hate to tell you this, but it sounds like they were unripe.

Depends a little on variety, of course, but in general ripe dates are soft, sticky, and sugary. Personally I love 'em, and if they'd grow here I'd have a whole grove of date palms out back.

Perhaps the seller himself doesn't know when they should be harvested?

It surely would be a terrible thing to die of low cholesterol!

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#3
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8/25/09 at 6:02am
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  • Location: New York, NY
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I've often heard of them stuffed and rolled in bacon. I've never cooked for them though, you may want to google search "stuffed dates."

In a nutshell

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#4
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8/25/09 at 7:19am
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  • Location: Maine
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I have taken fresh dates (they are as KY said sticky and wicked sweet when ripe) cooked them down with just enough moisture so as not to burn them and made a lovely filling for filled sugar cookies. I have also used them in bread pudding or many other recipes instead of rasins.
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#5
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8/25/09 at 7:22am
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Great, split and filled with a creamy cheese and walnuts.
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#6
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9/3/09 at 1:15pm
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  • Location: Los Angeles, CA
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So they're just unripe! Unbelievable. Thanks guys!

So the dates you buy that are perfectly brown (mine where pale yellow), sticky, soft and sweet as honey - those are just fresh ripe dates? I thought they were dried - kinda like prunes.....

Thanks for the help guys.
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#7
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9/3/09 at 1:24pm
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  • Location: Central Kentucky---where the bluegrass meets the mountains
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Sounds like madjool (sp?) dates. Deep, rich brown, soft, sticky, and sweet as home-made sin.

You can't mistake them for dried dates, which either come boxed (usually already chopped); or the Turkish style, which are dried whole and resemble brownish-yellow flat tires.

The Turkish used to come strung on a piece of vine, but I haven't seen them that way in a mort of years.

It surely would be a terrible thing to die of low cholesterol!

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#8
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9/3/09 at 1:28pm
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The ones I have are still on the vine, but yellow, hard, not that sweet, and definitely not Medjool.. I think they're Deglet Noor, so I was comparing them to the dark brown Deglet Noor I find boxed at the supermarket or in a bag at the Farmer's Market.

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#9
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9/5/09 at 2:39am
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I have a suggestion of a recipe which you can use fresh dates.

Free Recipes - Chicken tagine with fresh dates and lemons recipe - poultry - chicken | cuisine.com.au

Something new for dinner that is easy to do! :)
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#10
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9/5/09 at 10:17am
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Hmmmmm that Tajine looks yummy! Thanks for that link.
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#11
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9/5/09 at 2:24pm
  • Joined: August 2006
  • Location: Rome, Italy
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what can you do with fresh dates?
slap them in the face?
ok, i couldn't resist. sorry.

I have had fresh dates, but then a few days after i had them home they got wormy. Kind of put me off after that. I think i had bought them unpackaged, and maybe some bugs got at them at the market (they were just there like apples, open to the air and any passing insect). Pretty disgusting though. But they tasted good, the ones i ate immediately.
I would imagine them with prosciutto maybe, in an appetizer.
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