PHOENIX DACTYLIFERA
THE CULTIVATION of dates began in the region between the Nile and Euphrates rivers in the times of Sumer and ancient Egypt, when wild date palms that had large, palatable fruits were selected from the wild palms with mostly inedible fruits. Eventually, around 4,000 years ago, fruits approximating our modern dates were born. The caravans that wended their way from oasis to oasis across this region planted date palms; the palms flourished with their heads in the furnace heat of the desert and their feet rooted in the high water tables of the oases and brackish marshes. Dates still grow best in this kind of situation, and that’s why in the United States certain deserts in Arizona and especially California’s Coachella Valley are the center of date production.
There are 600 varieties of cultivated dates in the world, most of them limited to areas of North Africa and the Middle East, with an especially strong presence around the southern Iraqi town of Basra. (California has about 250,000 acres of cultivated dates; Iraq probably has around 22 million acres.)
Before the regime of Saddam Hussein drained the marshes of southern Iraq, the wet soil and fierce heat provided perfect conditions for date growing. It may be that plans are afoot to return the wetlands to their original marshy state, which would allow the reconstitution of date growing on the scale once practiced there by the Marsh Arabs who have inhabited the region for 5,000 years.
THE ORGANIC FACTOR
Growers often say that they use organic methods as much for the quality of the product they reap as for its purity and its light footprint on the environment. One example is the Oasis Date Gardens, in the Coa-chella Valley in Thermal, California. This relatively small date garden (as date farms are called) has about 9,500 trees on 175 acres and ships just under a million pounds of organic dates a year. The folks at Oasis believe dates obtain the best flavor and fullest sweetness under organic conditions, such as feeding the date palms rich organic compost.
NUTRITION
Dates are energy-packed. Five dates, about 45 grams or a little less than 11⁄2 ounces, contain 115 calories, mostly from the 80 percent sugar content of ripe dates. Dates also contain protein, fat, and plentiful minerals including copper, sulfur, iron, magnesium, and especially potassium. Bedouin Arabs, who eat them on a regular basis, show an extremely low incidence of cancer and heart disease.
TYPES
Dates are classified as soft, semisoft, and dry.
Soft dates have been picked from the tree while still moist and fresh. This state is called tamar, and soft dates are graded by their tamar, or moisture content. Soft dates, if you can find them, are extremely good. At the tamar stage, they are about 24 percent moisture and so have a juicy, melting quality. If you’ve had Medjool dates, these are an example of high-quality soft dates. Most soft dates are left on the tree until they become relatively dry, then allowed to cure even further, which shrivels them and concentrates their sugar (these are invert sugars, by the way, which is important for those who can’t tolerate sucrose).
Semisoft dates have drier, thicker skins and a sticky, chewy texture. These are the dates most people are used to seeing sold in markets packed into small boxes. Semisoft dates have a moisture content of around 10 percent and constitute over 90 percent of the market.
Dry dates, also called bread dates, have been left to dry on the tree and then cured until their moisture content is less than 7 percent. They are dry like pastry and crumble when chewed, and they were a staple of Middle Eastern nomads of the desert because they kept well without refrigeration.
In addition to whole dates, you can find date spreads and pastes, powdered date sugar, jams, jelly, and juice—all utilizing the fruit’s intense sweetness—but I have not seen these as organic products.
SEASONALITY
September through Decem-ber is the harvest season for dates. ....read more
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