Hot Dates

The California date harvest swings into gear this week, bringing the best, freshest dates of the year into the stores. Of course, dates can be stored for long periods, but you can’t beat the taste of a big, creamy Medjool that has just been picked.

Dates travel under romantic varietal names that conjure up sandy landscapes, elegant palms and camels (Indio, in other words).

Deglet Noor (which translates as “Date of Light”) is the dominant commercial variety and makes up some 95% of all dates grown in the United States. They are firm-fleshed, dark amber and seem more simply sweet than other varieties.

Medjools are soft, complexly sweet, creamy dates that reach surprising size. They are the first dates to be harvested. Zahidis are firm and reddish brown; Halawys are soft, very sweet and golden brown; Khadrawys are soft and rich with a slight greenish cast when young, and honey dates are smaller and very sweet.

Last season, the date harvest was hampered by an early winter freeze, which reduced supplies, even killing trees. According to one grower, 95% of the trees have recovered and supplies should be increased, meaning prices will be lower.

* Potatoes are as cheap as they’ll be all year, thanks to overlapping sizable harvests in Washington and Idaho. Quality is expected to be excellent. Though there are many varieties of potatoes, basically they can be broken down into four categories:

--Round red: Waxy potatoes (such as La Rouge, La Soda, Red Norland and Red Pontiac) are best used for steaming and boiling.

--Round white: Not quite waxy, not quite mealy, medium-starch potatoes (Superior, Kennebec, Katahdin, Maine, Delaware, Long Island and Canada varieties) are best for frying or scalloping.

--Long white: Waxy potatoes (White Rose or Long White) are primarily grown in California and Arizona, whose harvests have just ended. They are best scalloped or roasted.

--Russet: Starchy potatoes, the best-known variety of which is the Russet Burbank, are best baked or mashed.

There is an increasing number of specialty potatoes as well, such as the yellow-fleshed Finnish or blue-fleshed Peruvian. Not yet important commercially, they are becoming easier to find in the stores.

IN GROWERS MARKETS At the Thursday morning San Pedro market, on Third Street between Centre and Mesa streets, Yanez Farms from Thermal has Medjool dates in varying sizes (the biggest are wonderfully sweet, so large and rich that one is a dessert in itself). Deglet Noors and honey dates will follow shortly. K & K Ranch from Orosi, near Visalia, has pomegranates, Asian pears and new-crop walnuts still in their husks. Louis Figueroa from Carson has spinach, collard greens, mustard greens, Texas mustard greens and turnip greens. Goto Farms (two sisters who have small plots in Redlands and Gardena) has Genovese, Napoletano, piccola, purple, cinnamon, licorice, sweet and lettuce basils as well as other fresh herbs, green and Mission figs and Valencia oranges. J & P Seafood has line-caught red snapper, shark, sea bass, salmon, swordfish and tuna. Zamora Produce from Vista has tomatoes ranging from crisp green to dead-soft red, with Romas and cherries as well. William Brosky, who farms his San Pedro back yard, has organic cucumbers, Japanese cucumbers, zucchini, peppers and lemons.