Dates

I love seeing fruits and vegetables in their right season. We have become so used to buying everything all year round that it loses something don't you think?
Fresh dates are beginning to appear in markets at present. The first time I saw dates like these I wondered what they were.
Crunchy dates! A bit of research and I now know that dates have four ripening stages. This is the second stage known as khabal. They will soften a bit from this stage and become sweeter and darker in colour. Although unless properly dried they will only keep a couple of weeks.