Dates can keep in refrigeration for years and are available year-round, but the freshly harvested fruits, which started showing up last week, are far superior in texture and flavor, and are one of the great seasonal treats available at Southern California farmers markets.
Most distinctive is the Barhi variety, picked at what is known in Arabic as the khalal stage of maturity, when it is yellow, firm and crunchy, with a flavor of coconut, sugarcane and cinnamon. Most of the leading date varieties, such as Medjool and Deglet Noor, are high in tannins at this stage and thus too astringent to eat with pleasure. But when properly mature — that is, bright yellow, without any greenish tinge — Barhi has just a touch of astringency, which complements its sweetness.
If small brownish dots are starting to appear on the fruit, that's not rot but a good indication of full maturity. If yellow Barhis are left on the kitchen counter (not in the refrigerator), they will gradually soften, like Hachiya persimmons, and arrive at the rutab stage much appreciated by Middle Easterners and date connoisseurs. These fruits are amber or light reddish brown, soft, moist and delightfully free of stringy fibers, so that eating one is like biting into a caramel cloud. They can keep in refrigeration for several months and still taste good, but as the moisture seeps out, a pocket develops between the fruit and the skin, which turns brittle and is best peeled off, if you don't mind getting your fingers sticky.
The Barhi's flavor is "mild and extremely delicate, rich yet not heavy or cloying," wrote Paul Popenoe, scion of a famous exotic fruit nursery family and agricultural explorer (later a marriage counselor and eugenicist) who imported offshoots of the variety from Basra, Iraq in 1913. It is grown on modest acreage in the Coachella desert for shipping khalal fruits to Middle Eastern and specialty markets during the brief season, September and early October. Rutab Barhis, which should be refrigerated if kept for more than a day or two, are too delicate for commercial shipping (even mail order is dicey), so farmers markets are the best source.
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Photo by David Karp for the Los Angeles Times