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Post by circumspice on Oct 31, 2012 9:31:26 GMT -5
When I was working in the middle east I had the opportunity to buy Saudi Arabian dates, though I can't remember which variety they were. I didn't because they were horrendously expensive. It was sort of a vanity/luxury item. Now I wish I had because most of them were unpitted. I really like dates. It would have been kind of cool to try growing date palms from the pits.
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Post by castanea on Oct 31, 2012 20:31:04 GMT -5
We ate dates in Dubai, most of which were produced in Saudi Arabia. Some of them were amazing. The flavors were just more complex than what you find in most American dates.
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Post by castanea on Oct 31, 2012 20:38:21 GMT -5
There are two superb articles are about an American writer's search for exceptional dates in the US and elsewhere. First he goes looking for the superb, but rare, Khalasah date in the US. This is one of the most interesting and best written articles I have ever read about fruit. Anyone interested should read the entire article. Here is the end of his quest: "As for my meager supply of khalasahs, however, I wasn’t sure how to eat them, until I remembered my experience in Wadi Hadhramawt. I have now come to the conclusion that the best way to eat the khalasah is to simply let a single date melt in my mouth—once a month. How to describe the experience? The khalasah has a tender, sticky, light orange-brown, silky skin. It possesses a translucent, reddish-amber, firm, delicate and complex caramel-flavored flesh that melts away to nothing. This is the sort of date that one can actually savor for an hour, exploring the entire range of date flavors, without being able to untangle the elusive flavor puzzle. I am now down to nine khalasahs, and I am thinking that my next trip in search of dates might need to go farther afield than the Coachella Valley." www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200404/looking.for.the.khalasah.htm
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Post by castanea on Oct 31, 2012 21:00:26 GMT -5
Then the writer goes to the middle east to find the best date grown there. He finally finds that: "any list of the best dates would certainly have to include these: nubout sayf, which is a long date shaped like a sword (sayf), from the Riyadh region on the Najd plateau in central Arabia; sukkari, meaning “sweet one,†from the Qasim region north of Riyadh; the rare (and very expensive) ‘anbar or ‘anbara date from the Madinah region; and finally, the khlas of al-Hasa." The writer samples many good dates but finally finds one of the best growers of khlas dates: "We sat down for a mid-afternoon break in an open-air shed and drank lightly roasted coffee with freshly picked khlas dates. They tasted far better than anything I had tried in the previous week. Even al-Salim took notice. I asked al-Shaykh if the quality of dates differed within a single grove. He said that the shade and irrigation in the center of a grove causes higher humidity, which makes the dates there develop a softer flesh and a slightly less complex taste. He thought the dates on the sunny southern edge of his property were more chewy and had a more concentrated flavor, thanks to the hot wind and additional sunlight. Before I could ask, al-Shaykh read my mind and sent a man to bring back some dates from those palms. Within 20 minutes we were eating dates that were even better than what had been laid before us earlier. They were indescribably delicious. I asked al-Shaykh if it would be fair to say that these khlas dates were the best examples from the best grove in the best growing region in the kingdom. “It has been a good season in al-Mutairfi, but we are only one of several high-quality growers in this area,†he replied. Despite this modest response, there was little doubt in my mind that we were eating dates of extraordinary quality. But when I asked al-Shaykh to be more specific, he said merely, “These are pretty good dates.†Beneath the shade of the palms, I spotted a donkey tethered to a post. Remembering the saying about the earliest dates being suitable for the amir and the last ones for the donkey, I walked over to the animal. I held out my hand, palm up, and fed the donkey my last three California khalasahs." www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200404/.carrying.dates.to.hajar..htm
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Post by castanea on Oct 31, 2012 21:15:56 GMT -5
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Post by castanea on Oct 31, 2012 21:18:29 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2012 22:30:36 GMT -5
I've grown up on these. People from out of area notice all the palms, first thing. We have a Palm Ave, dates were always bought at ranch stores, and someone from the Salton Sea area had given us 10lb bags, which she had graciously cooked for us.
I expect these street trees to be littering the ground, some time around February. I would really like special, named cultivars, but will still plan to be growing, perfectly-good, ordinary date seeds.
I'm still a young man and have grown other, fruitful trees from seed.
I'm about a half hour from Cabazon, where date shakes are sold (Hadley's, dinosaurs on Peewee's Big Adventure), and maybe about an hour from Palm Springs.
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Post by castanea on Oct 31, 2012 23:45:01 GMT -5
Seedling date palms sometimes produce fruit inside of 5 years.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2012 17:50:36 GMT -5
I am seeing what I recognize as ordinary, brown date palms, in the Walmart / BofA parking lot, downtown. now full of large, green fruit.
But, I'm wondering whether it is possible for you to ID a different kind of date, based on the description. It has a smoother, whitish trunk, and orange fruit? They are apparently the size of a generic date.
Also, does anyone know when jelly palm fruit would be in season.
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Post by castanea on Nov 1, 2012 21:02:39 GMT -5
Regular date palms will produce seedless fruit without pollination, but the fruit never properly matures. Unpollinated fruit looks different though than pollinated fruit from the same palm.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2012 14:05:42 GMT -5
I have gained a new respect for an everyday thing, around me, which I have not studied, before.
These palms appear to be in an intermediate stage of growth.
They are taller than mere fronds, growing from the ground.
They are still too short to have the coarse "bark," which I am used to seeing.
There is a short trunk, but it is still too young to have the "beard" of drooping leaves. I am seeing a smoother part, between the trunk and the fronds.
These appear to be young date palms, now being planted in parking lots, and the yards of Mexicans.
These garden trends seem to be instigated by whatever is on sale at the local home improvement center, but I think it's commendable to plant more useful things.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2012 14:05:54 GMT -5
Around their respective holidays, Islamic and Jewish, online vendors are popping up, with neat imports and uncommon varieties, priced to suit the venue.
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Post by trixtrax on Nov 24, 2012 14:58:25 GMT -5
This may be of interest, in 2005 scientists resurected the extinct Judean Date Palm from a single 2000 year old seed. There are a few articles around, but here is the Wikipedia page: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judean_date_palm
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Post by trixtrax on Nov 24, 2012 14:58:55 GMT -5
I too love dates and wish I could grow them in the Pacific NW. HAHA fat chance of that!
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Post by steev on Nov 26, 2012 0:25:16 GMT -5
Don't be discouraged; global climate change is happening.
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