August 21st
2006
This is one of our culinary finds at the Naschmarkt in Vienna. Lacking in taste they unfortunately were quite a disappointment, despite the stand owner swearing ("...'til I die or poke a needle in my eye") that they were ripe... Any clue, what these are?
Hello!
Hm, last week I bought some "fresh dates" as well - and was disappointed as well! No taste, a strange feeling (especially the teeth became "rough" - sorry, can't describe it better) in the mouth and glad I only bought 4 of those :-)
Cheers, Iris
they look like unripe dates? Could it be?
Der Stiel erinnert an Datteln. Keine Ahnung. Mispeln? Aber die wachsen anders, glaube ich.
Hmmm, this looks like what we call "iğde" in turkish. I think the german name is "ölweide" and in english it is often called autumn- or russian olive. If it really is what I think it is, it would be no surprise that you were disappointed, they taste very mealy. When they are ripe they get darker (orange brown) and wrinkled.
Unripe dates? I've got a date tree in my garden and the unripe dates look exactly the same.
Though, i suspect i'm wrong because i've never heard of eating unripe dates!
By the way, i love the new SCOOP section. So clever!
fanny
not really sure from your photo, but it looks similar to langsat - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langsat
Fresh dates, are they? Who am I kidding, I have no idea! But cute indeed!
fresh dates
I know these things. They are dates. Rather, the fruits the Date Palm. The ones that we normally get are ripe and dried (tamr). These are unripe, and fresh (khalal).
They are fresh dates! Last december I was in Vienna and tried them! But I really liked its taste, it was very sweet!
Very fresh dates! I like fresh dates, but they're best when they're in between fresh and dry, super nice!
Wow! That was fast! You guys are waaaay smarter than I am ;) Wouldn't have known if I hadn't asked the owner of the fruit stand... Thanks for playing along! My dates will now be resting for a few more days on our kitchen window sill - hopefully getting tastier...
when I tried some last year in SF, at the Alemany market, they were called "banana dates"
Surely fresh dates!
I was on Saturday at the Naschmarkt and also saw them! Are you still around in Vienna? I have been reading your blog for so long but never leave a comment (shame on me!). I also tried out some of recipes (specially the sweets ;-)) but am too shy to report I guess. Anyway is nice to know you near. Let me know if you would find a "blind foodie date" funny.... I am brazilian, my husband indian and we practically live in our kitchen mixing up cultures! Warm greetings! Carolina
The dates in their current state are meant to taste sweet and dry. It's an acquired taste to be honest. I personally do prefer them when they're more ripe and have turned brown and sweet.
Fresh dates should be frozen (honestly) before you eat them. The freezing gets rid of the astringent quality that makes your mouth feel like it has been stripped and dried. Freezing also makes them sweeter.
Aja beat me to it...you must freeze them solid, then defrost them, and you will discover how good they are - soft, gooey, sweet - you won't be able to go back to dried dates. They end up tasting very similar to mejdool dates, those huge fleshy sweet Californian dates. Try it.
Fresh dates are the best. You must not have eaten them when they were at the peak stage..
Nice website. I like this very much.
Carl
They look like the fruit from the marula tree to me but then again I am in South Africa. Marulas have big round pips, are not very sweet and have a fleshy, watery taste with a somewhat numbing aftertaste. It has a distinctive flavour and makes great jam or syrup. There is also a local creamy liquer that is marula flavoured called Amarula. They are not in season here yet though and I doubt that they are cultivated. We buy them from street vendors at traffice lights in summer.
Stephni
Fresh dates...and I have to agree, they are much better ripe!!
Reporting back. I left the dates for 3 days, and they started to wrinkle, but not darken and not sweeten anymore. Still that astringent-dry feeling in the mouth. As a couple were starting to look dodgy to eat, I decided not to wait any longer. I then tried the tip of freezing them, which did seem to get rid of the astringency, but didn't really sweeten them any more. Probably just the date variety I guess.
lovely picture as usual. they look like pears to me :)
Fresh dates!! A work colleague brings them inl quite regularly.
what you describe (dry mouth, rough on teeth) is caused by unripe dates. If the dates are way too unripe, they won't tasted much more than tasteless paper but if left to ripe just slightly, darker, softer spots with more hard deeper yellow, they taste like the best thing ever. It is an acquired taste as I love it and my wife who have had these only a couple of times, does not care for them. I love them.
Carolina, Thank you for your sweet comment! And - please - don't be too shy to report back, when you tried one of of our featured recipes! First-hand feedback is always very welcome :)
Sadly our little trip to Vienna was way to short, we are already thinking about going back there... In any way, we'll let you know in advance and see, if you're still up for a "blind foodie date".
Thank you all for your tips and feedback on how to treat my newly acquired dates, for some reason I still prefer the dark brown ones I usually buy in colder seasons!
Andrea, Thanks for following-up! Same with my dates, no sign of improvement, neither after they started to wrinkle nor after defrosting the small amount I had put in the freezer ;(
Junaid Khan, Your description made my mouth water! I guess the ones I purchased only had limited potential ;)
I must admit I love dates - so I would love to know more about fresh dates and how to best to appreciate them. The 'freezing' tip resonates with me, I've bought packs of similar dates when in Saudi Arabia that had only just defrosted and just assumed that it was for preservation or packing and transport.. but I did wonder why other dates were not packed this way.. mystery solved, thanks guys!
Now here's a related tidbit - the most prized of these dates seemed to be ones that were half yellow and half brown, almost as if half of the date was made to to stay fresh while the other half ripened! (there was a distinct line on all the dates with the top half lengthwise being yellow and the bottom being brown)
Anyone know what this is about..?
I have a date tree in Alabama. They start out green. My favorite stage is when they're dark brown and the flesh is firm. After that they become reddish and the flesh gets soft and gooey, while the outside wrinkles. I'm looking for the best way to preserve them. Most have fallen off the tree before I could use them in a recipe. Some were yellow on top, brown on the bottom, but tasted every bit as good, as long as they were firm.
Fresh dates. I was just at the Naschmarkt too this weekend (thanks for the tip, the one thing I didn't know about, despite having been to Vienna 4 or 5 times) and was also tempted by them.
Mine were sweet, but caused my mouth to dry up in that way that unripe fruit can. Our seller we could leave them a few days to brown and sweeten some more. I'll let you know how it goes.