Power-Packed First Date Questions
The first time you try a date variety you have never eaten, it is easy to say “sweet” and move on. A few sharper questions turn that first taste into something you will remember the next time you stand in front of a shelf of twenty boxes. Treat it like a first date: ask, pay attention, and keep a few notes.
Question one: what am I actually eating?
Read the box before you open it. The variety and the country should both be on it. Every date sold in Malaysia is imported, because the country has no commercial date-growing trade, so an honest label never leaves the origin blank. A few varieties go by more than one name in Malaysian shops. “Kurma Nabi” is a market name for Ajwa, the date from Madinah; Kurma Ajwa is how one Malaysian seller lists it. Sayer is also traded as Stamaran. Rotab Mazafati Bam and kurma madu are both names for Mazafati, which comes from Bam in Iran’s Kerman province.
How does it feel when I bite into it?
Texture is the easiest thing to notice. Mazafati is very soft and high in moisture. Medjool is large and very soft. Ajwa is soft as well, small and near-black with finely wrinkled skin. Safawi, longer than Ajwa and dark brown to black, is soft and chewy. At the drier end, Mabroom is long, slender, reddish-brown, semi-dry and chewy, and Deglet Noor is golden, translucent and semi-dry. Ask yourself where the date in your hand sits between those two ends.
Is this the soft stage or the dry stage?
Dates are eaten at different stages of ripeness. Rutab, or rotab, is the soft, fresh-ripe stage. Tamr, or tamar, is fully ripe and drier. The same variety can taste quite different at each one. Sukari from Al-Qassim is a good example, since it is sold soft as rutab and also drier. If the box doesn’t say which you have, that is a question for the seller.
What does the taste remind me of?
Write it down in your own words. Medjool has a rich caramel taste. Sukari is very sweet. Khalas, from Al-Ahsa in Saudi Arabia or from the UAE, is soft and caramel-coloured. Your notes don’t need to match anyone else’s. They only need to help you pick the same box, or avoid it, next time.
Where should the rest of the box go?
For Mazafati the answer is the fridge. It needs refrigeration, and it is cold-stored before sale, which is why soft rotab Mazafati is on shelves all year. For any other variety, follow the storage line printed on the pack rather than guessing.
Is it worth a second date?
Decide what you would buy it for. Demand for dates in Malaysia peaks before and during Ramadan, and Hari Raya, hantaran trays for weddings, kenduri and umrah gifts are busy times too. Note whether this variety belongs in one of those orders, and how much of it you would want.
Then compare. Grades such as A, AA, AAA or Jumbo are each importer’s own size sorting, not a shared standard, so read them alongside the price. A published list like harga Kurma Ajwa Green diamond gives you a reference point, or start from the Kurma Ajwa Green diamond homepage and work through the varieties you have now tasted.
If a box from Mazafati Dates Exporter was your first taste of a variety and you want a second, the about page says it delivers across the country and takes enquiries and orders. Send yours through the contact page.