Dates! Who knew?

[lauraelmore1033]

I once bought fresh dates in a turkish grocery. They were very crunchy and had a mouth-feel similar to green bananas.
I thought that maybe I didn't know something about them, that they would need to be dried or cooked or anything, because they weren't delicious at all but reading your comments thats maybe the way they are supposed to taste

Yeah, I had no idea they came any other way (than the brown shriveled things you look at in the produce department and pass over) Mouth fee similar to green bananas--No thanks.

[OakLeaf]

the brown shriveled things you look at in the produce department and pass over

Pass over? Pass over?! It's a struggle for me not to buy and eat every dried date I see.




And - if figs are any comparison - then by all means, if you're in the PNW, eat a freakin' apple, but if dates are grown near you and brought fresh and ripe to the market, try some and get back to us! Grocery store fresh figs in the north are just plain nasty, and I totally love fresh figs when I'm in California or Florida in the late summer. Once in a while I'll make an exception to local and seasonal to try something exotic, and I nearly always regret it.

[lauraelmore1033]

Pass over? Pass over?! It's a struggle for me not to buy and eat every dried date I see.

And - if figs are any comparison - then by all means, if you're in the PNW, eat a freakin' apple, but if dates are grown near you and brought fresh and ripe to the market, try some and get back to us! Grocery store fresh figs in the north are just plain nasty, and I totally love fresh figs when I'm in California or Florida in the late summer. Once in a while I'll make an exception to local and seasonal to try something exotic, and I nearly always regret it.

Well, I just never had dates growing up. They just don't LOOK like something that would be so devistatingly delicious.
I will get back to you if I ever try a fresh date.

[GLC1968]

Oh yeah...fresh figs are incredible. I'd never had one until we moved here and WOW...unbelievable! In season, ripe off the tree...they kind of remind me of strawberries but with a different flavor. Hard to explain but worth the wait to get them in season!

In fact, around here, some fig trees will fruit twice a year (mild enough climate) if there is enough sun.

But yeah, I don't think fresh dates are going to be very prevalent in the PNW.

[badger]

*drool* I LOVE fresh figs, especially the big, black kind. My grandparents had a fig tree in the back and I would eat them off the tree - SO yummy!

It never seems to get hot enough to ripen the figs here in Vancouver.