Exquisite desert confections
Peak season
Fresh dates: While most of the rest of the country celebrates the arrival of fall with a crunchy bite of apple, we in Southern California know better. Here, where the weather never gets cold enough for apples to excel, we go in the opposite direction. Fresh dates, which have baked in the desert sun all summer until they taste like creamy caramel candy, are one of the treasures of our autumn harvest. Most commercial dates are dried, either on the tree or after harvest, but the ones we get now are fresh and moist. There are several varieties -- Medjool, Barhi and Deglet Noor are among the most popular -- but their differences are fairly subtle. If you want a real date treat, try the exquisite Barhi dates called rutab. You will have to seek them out; some of the vendors don’t know what they’re called. Look for dates that seem almost liquid inside. These are moist beyond belief, like a culinary confection by Ferran Adria -- a complex caramel syrup encased in the thinnest, barely set shell. Who needs crunch with a treat like this?
Several vendors, about $5 a pound.
Russ Parsons
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