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Whether sweet, salty or savory, it's a date: 3 recipes that make use of this underappreciated fruit

Upside-down date and orange cake. (Kathy Gunst/Here & Now)

When you ask Joan Smith, owner of Rancho Meladuco in Mecca, California, about dates, you’re met with an onslaught of adjectives: “Meaty. Soft. Delicate. Buttery. Complex. Rich. Dense. Chewy. Boozy. Caramel-like. Maple. Cinnamon-raisin-y.”

Smith has been growing dates for about seven years on her 200-acre ranch in the Coachella Valley, the same area that’s home to the famed music festival. If you’ve ever picked up a packet of dried dates in your local grocery store, you may not be sure what all the fuss is about. Those shriveled brown dried fruit? I was never a huge date fan until I tasted the freshness, and “meatiness,” of Rancho Meladuco’s dates. Smith is spot on: Dates are chewy and dense. But they also have an unexpected creaminess that makes them ideal to use raw or cooked in everything from smoothies to soups, salads, pizza toppings, sauces and baked goods. I started cooking with dates and fell in love.

Dates grow in clusters (like grapes)

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