Have you ever had a medjool date? It is dried and wrinkled outside, but sweet and sticky inside. It is rich and has an intense caramel taste in each bite. In fact it taste so much like caramel that it’s hard to believe I’m eating a fruit. Medjool dates were originally grown in Morocco but there are several areas in the US, like California and Arizona, that cultivate these dates very well. Medjool dates are sometimes referred to as “crown jewel of dates” – I suspect because they are the best, most premium kind of date.
I’ve had my first ever taste last week and it was love at first bite.
If you take out the pit and close your eyes, it really is like eating candy. Trust me – I like love candy and have never (never!) made a proclamation like this.
I bought my organic medjool dates from Whole Foods but I’ve also seen them in Stop and Shop. I am pretty sure they are available year round, but they are most prominent during the holiday season (I know, I’m late, but I’m a medjool date newbie). Each dried fruit has a lot of sugar and calories (two pieces clock in at 140 calories) but one or two is enough to satisfy a sweet craving.
I packed a couple of these dates as plane snacks when I went to Houston last week (recap of my trip coming soon!) and when the lady sitting beside me asked what I was eating, I ended up waxing poetic about just how wonderful and caramel-y these medjool dates are – but I didn’t offer her any. (What? I said I only had a couple and I already bit into the last piece…)
Medjool dates are one of those things that I always seem to read about and see around, but I just never got to try, until recently. It’s taken me a long time but I couldn’t be happier about my latest discovery.
Have you ever tried something for the first time and immediately loved it? Tell me about your latest food discoveries too!