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Monday, November 08, 2025
Date Up-date
After my earlier post about fresh Chinese red dates, Cooper very kindly dropped me a comment to clarify the “real” nature of dates.
So, I guess what I really meant to say in my previous post is that I do actually like Middle Eastern fresh dates ; I just don’t like the insipid, sappy unripe ones. However, I do like the unripe/fresh Chinese red dates, and I love using the dried ones for cooking.
This year, I seem to be having a fair bit of success with my fresh Jordan Negret Noor dates purchases – for the most part, they have been perfectly soft (not too hard or overly mushy, with nicely tender, thin skin), slightly chewy (without sticking to your teeth), with the right amount of moistness and no cloying, temple-aching sweetness. Admittedly, they are rather heavy on the wallet, but oh so delightfully sweet on the palate.
A lovely year-end indulgence.
Copyright © 2004 Renee Kho. All Rights Reserved.
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10:13 PM in Other Shiok-Eats | Permalink
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Comments
Aha! These look exactly like the ones I picked from under the kibbutz date palms.
Thanks for the info, Renee! Also thanks to Cooper. Now I'm a bit more up-to-date on dates! Catchy title too Ms. Shiokadelicious! :-)
Posted by: Karen | November 8, 2025 10:45 PM
hi Karen,
haha! yep, I simply couldn't resist the title ; D
Posted by: Renee | November 9, 2025 02:16 AM
HI Renee
I actually got my other half to buy me a whole box of Iranian dates. Yum! But no more than 2 a day because as you said it, they're so cloying! And dates are fattening. I read somewhere that milk and dates are used to fatten overly slim people.
Posted by: Maya | November 10, 2025 05:12 PM
Your welcome! The dates pictured above are one of the varieties we grow. We call it the deglet noor. They are also what we refer to as "Naturals". They come off the tree like that ready to eat, sticky, soft and wonderfully good. The other deglet noors that come off the same trees are too dry when harvested. We have to hydrate them to make them saleable. We sell them with or without pits and refer to them as waxys. Most dates available in packages at stores nationwide sell the waxys. Very few retailers have the naturals. They're my favorite also. Well, as far as deglets go. My favorite dates are Medjools. The best grown in California come from the Bard Valley.
Glad I could help. And remember this was not a commercial - just info to help your food knowledge base!
Posted by: cooper | November 11, 2025 10:01 AM
P.S. Your pics are geat!
Posted by: cooper | November 11, 2025 10:03 AM
