Have You Tried Cooking with Dates

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Quick Answer: Dates are ancient fruits native to North Africa with four ripening stages: kimri (green), khalal (crunchy), rutab (soft), and tamr (dried). They're used in African cuisine for both sweet and savory dishes, like this 15-minute date couscous dessert that can also be served as breakfast.

Prep: 5 mins | Cook: 10 mins | Total: 15 mins | Servings: 4 | Cuisine: North African

The date fruit is one of the most ancient crops, growing for thousands and thousands of years.

When cooking with dates, California or African remember large portion of the calories in dates food come from sugars.

Dates are the fruit of the date palm, a tree native to Northern Africa. Botanically the date fruit is a berry. It takes about 200 days from pollination for the date to reach full ripening. One medium size Deglet Noor date has about 44 calories and almost no fat.

A large portion of the calories in dates food come from sugars. Deglet Noor dates have many nutritional benefits; antioxidants, sodium, cholesterol and fat free, and being nutrient in dense both fiber and potassium.

Hababauk is the term used for the female flower and the period just after pollination when the young fruit is still creamy white before gradually turning green at the kimri stage. Stages of the ripening of a Deglet Noor date:

Kimri 

Early ripening of the date remaining green

Khalal 

The date reaches its full size and changes from green to yellow or red in color depending on the variety of date. Weight gain is slow but sucrose content increases. At this stage, dates are still crunchy, like an apple and considered a delicacy.

Rutab 

Dates decrease in weight due to moisture loss, a mixture of glucose and fructose, browning of the skin and softening of the fruit. The moisture content goes down to about 35% and the dates at this stage are sold as fresh fruit.

Tamr 

When the dates are left to ripen further. The most traditional way of producing tamr is sun curing and drying usually on mats. However, in some areas of Africa such as Tunisia, the highly sought after Deglet Noor date is cured on the hanging stems remaining intact with the cluster of dates gives a better result than when the dates are stripped off then cured on mats.

Cooking with dates is easy. North African recipes use Deglet Noor dates as an ingredient for breakfast, lunch, dinner or appetizers and dessert. Often cooking with dates in African recipes, Deglet Noor dates are stuffed with sweet or savory fillings or simply enjoyed on its own.

Sweet Date Couscous Dessert Recipe

Prep: 5 mins | Cook: 10 mins | Total: 15 mins | Servings: 4 | Cuisine: North African

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup instant couscous
• 1/2 cup dried dates, chopped
• 1/4 cup toasted almonds, chopped
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/8 teaspoon orange flower water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Cook couscous according to package directions until fluffy
2. While couscous is warm, toss with chopped dates and toasted almonds
3. Drizzle with honey and orange flower water, then sprinkle with salt
4. Mix gently until all ingredients are well combined
5. Serve warm as dessert, or add milk for a breakfast cereal option