The California Date Harvest looks good

[Ahmad]

@Ahmad

Dates have four main stages of ripeness that can be eaten in: The first is called Khalal, and it’s dates are crunchy, kind of like an apple (more crunchy) and are sweet to very sweet. The second is Rutab, and the dates will be creamy soft, translucent, very high in sugar (probably ~50% or higher) and prone to spoiling if stored at room temperature. The third is Tamr, which is more dry than rutab, but still retain the high sugar content (can be stored at RT due to the low moisture content) and moderately soft and chewy. The fourth state where the Tamr becomes very dry and hard, some times brittle, this fourth stage is best eaten with milk, like cereal (after putting in milk overnight to soften and release its sugar into the milk). My favorite stage is the Rutab.

@clarkinks In the Khalal stage, dates can be eaten and feel like any other fruit, say apples for instance. In the three following stages, they are intensely sweet, and they feel like eating a piece of very sweet chocolate (melting in the case of Rutab and solid n the case of Tamr), so they are usually eaten with coffee, tea or milk to balance the intense sweetness. They can also be stuffed with walnuts or almonds, and they taste great that way.