On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 716

Dates Dates are the sweet, easily dried fruits
ofadesertpalm,Phoenixdactylifera,thatcan
toleratesomecoldandthrivesaslongasithas
a source of water. Their original home was
MiddleEasternandAfricanoases,wherethey
werebeingcultivatedwithartificialirrigation
and pollination more than 5,000 years ago;
they’re now also grown in Asia and
California.Thoughweusuallyseeonlytwoor
three dried versions, there are thousands of
different date varieties that differ in size,
shape,color,flavor,andripeningschedule.
Growersandaficionadosdistinguishfour
stagesindatedevelopment:greenand
immature;maturebutunripe,whenthey’re
yelloworredandhard,crunchy,and
astringent;ripe(Arabicrhutab),whenthey’re
soft,goldenbrown,anddelicate;andfinally
dried,whenthey’rebrownandwrinkledand
powerfullysweet.Dryingisusuallydoneon
thetree.Datesaremoistandsucculentwhen
fresh,from50to90%water,andchewyand


concentratedwhendry,withlessthan20%
moisture.Drydatesare60to80%sugar,
togetherwithsometexture-providingpectins
andothercell-wallmaterials,andafew
percentfattymaterials,includingthesurface
wax.They’regroundintoacoarsepowderto
make“datesugar.”

Thedryingprocesscausesdatestodevelop
abrowncolorandbrownedflavorthanksboth
totheactionofbrowningenzymeson
phenolicmaterials,andtothebrowning
reactionsbetweenconcentratedsugarsand
aminoacids.Somevarietiesrichinphenolic
materials,notablytheDegletNoor,can
developanincreasedastringencyandred
colorationwhenheated.Phenolicandother
compoundsgivedatesnotableantioxidantand
antimutagenicactivities.
Fig Figs are the fruits ofFicus carica, a tree
nativetotheMediterraneanandMiddleEast,
and a relative of the mulberry. Because like