Romancing the date in Palm Springs....
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Think ‘Palm Springs’ and maybe it conjures up images of fabulous midcentury architecture or perennially perfect weather.
Me? I think of dates.
OK, so maybe I suffer from food on the brain (but then I do cook for a living). But a trip to Palm Springs is never complete without a short detour down California 111 to Shields Date Garden in nearby Indio. It’s magical.
Shields Date Garden is just one of the date farms in Southern California’s Coachella Valley, an area that supplies 95% of the commercial dates grown in the United States. Opened in 1924, it may be best known for Floyd Shields’ ‘Romance & Sex Life of the Date,’ an automated slide show/video that has played continuously on a loop in the in-house theater for more than 50 years.
Stop by the store, grab a date shake (they’re amazing), settle into one of the 1950s wooden theater seats and take in a screening of the film, based on Shields’ 1930s lectures on the history and complexity of date production. I dropped by just a couple weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised to see that the film had recently been restored and updated -- the 15-minute program now combines the original slide show (with Shields’ narration) with new footage, archival slides and photographs, newspaper clippings, 16mm and 18mm film, and audio tapes.
Stroll through the store and you’ll find that Shields also has a nice variety of dried dates sold by individual type and as gift packs, as well as date products (sugar, crystals, butter, etc.) for baking and cooking. There’s also a great selection of baked goods, including date nut loaves (I pick up several at a time; they freeze beautifully), brownies and bars. On my last trip, Shields also had fresh dates (pictured with a date nut loaf). They’re perfect in salads, with rice or stuffing, and will be in season through the end of the year. And in case you’re wondering, the film is also now available on DVD.
-- Noelle Carter
Photos by Noelle Carter/Los Angeles Times
