The 5 Stages of Fresh Dates

Date – we use the word year-round to refer to many things. You may tell someone “it’s a date” or ask, “what’s today’s date?” Even in the produce world, we have a few references for the word ‘date.’ More often than not, we use ‘date’ to refer to a dried good – medjool and deglet dates – that are available year-round. Did you know these are not fresh dates?

The difference between a fresh date and a dried date is pretty simple. Dried dates are often dried post-harvest while fresh dates are enjoyed right off the palm. Fresh dates are also referred to as Barhi dates. This is a highly seasonal variety that is only available for a short period of time. Out of California, Barhi dates are available mid-August before quickly transitioning to Israeli supply in September. Throughout their growing process, fresh dates pass through 5 stages:

1. Hababauk: Female palms are the trees that bear date fruits. During the hababauk stage, which is stage one, the female palms are hand pollinated with pollen from the male trees. This is to ensure that good, sizable fruit is grown.
2. Kirmiri: In the second stage, the date is small, hard, and green. The fruit is underripe and has an extremely bitter and astringent flavor due to high tannin content.
3. Khalal: This is the first stage where the date is edible. The skin of the fruit ripens from green to yellow and the sugar content increases. This makes the flavor sweet but still astringent. Barhi dates are harvested in the khalal stage.
4. Rutab: In the rutab, or fourth stage, the date becomes juicier and the flavor become sweeter with notes of caramel. The skin becomes brown and begins to loosen. Like the khalal stage, the date is edible but is softer compare to the crispness of the khalal stage.
5. Tamar: Tamar is the final stage for the date. Most dates are harvested in this stage and are prepared for the market as the dried date variety. In the tamar stage, the date is considered dry, although it is still quite moist without post-harvest drying. In this stage, the date is semi-firm and sweet with a molasses-like flavor.