Dinner Dates

California taught me that dates have a season. As a child in England, I thought of dates strictly as a holiday sort of fruit, dried and sticky, perfect, in their long, round-ended boxes for shoving into stockings, with a tangerine nestled beside them in the toe. I enjoyed them on those terms, especially when, in my childhood, they were lovingly stuffed with marzipan by my mother. The richness of that almond-date combination was my first experience of luxury. With more culinary experience under my belt, I’ve discovered that Southern California oranges and dates are an equally delicious pairing, the tartness of the orange and the rich sweetness of the date making the mouth come alive. Alice Waters sometimes serves fresh dates at her Berkeley restaurant Chez Panisse alongside tangerines.

The difference between the dried fruit of my childhood and what many in Southern California take for granted, fresh dates, is huge. In the Coachella Valley some 100 different varieties are harvested from September to December, and more than 1,000 are grown throughout the world. Eighty percent of the dates grown in California are Deglet Noor, which are ideal for cooking and available fresh at local farmers’ markets from October to December. The popular Medjool, which is better for eating than the Deglet Noor, accounts for 15% of California dates. The remaining five percent consists of such fascinating varieties as the Barhi, nicknamed the “honeyball” for its sweetness and color, the Halawy, small and intense, and the Khadrawy, firm with a caramel flavor. In the fall you can eat your way through the date gardens of the desert. Probably the best stop for those wanting to do some serious taste testing is the Oasis Date Gardens, surrounded by date orchards beside Highway 111 in Thermal. There you can buy a wide variety of loose dates, so you can take samplings of as many kinds as you like. In early September I bought a selection of six different types, freshly harvested, including yellow Barhi dates still on the branch; smooth, sharp, crisp to the bite like an apple, though they ripen quickly to a honey-colored, honey-tasting delight.

Experimenting with dates is an increasingly popular trend on Southern California menus, sometimes in an expectedly Middle Eastern way, in variations on couscous, in a Moroccan orange salad, sometimes in surprising new combinations. La Quinta caterer Sherry Pena makes a date tamale with a brilliant juxtaposition of Mexican and Middle Eastern flavors. And last Thanksgiving a friend served up a delicious date sauce to accompany roast duck. But it is that insistent, subtle sweetness that brings us back to desserts: date custards, dates drizzled with yogurt, dates with almonds, walnuts, dates with soft cheese, dates spun in sugar and matched with a bittersweet chocolate. There are not enough days between October and December to try all these fresh treats.

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Date and Walnut Custard

Serves 8

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 quart half and half

4 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup dates, chopped

4 dates, halved, for garnish

1/4 cup walnuts, chopped

8 halves of walnuts, for garnish

Zest of 1 orange

Dissolve cornstarch in 1 cup half and half, stirring well. Pour remainder of half and half into a saucepan, add orange zest and simmer slowly. Beat egg yolks and sugar together until creamy, then add to simmering half and half, stirring. Add cornstarch mixture and keep stirring. Add chopped dates and walnuts, and summer gently for five minutes. Remove from heat and divide into eight ramekins. Garnish each serving with a date and walnut half and refrigerate. Serve chilled.