How should I keep date palm fruit at my home?

Question

My neighbour gave us date palm fruit, its colour is not that black, kind of brown, not as sweet as the date palm fruit I ate before. I'm not sure if it's ripen already, but it's sweet enough, so my family and I just enjoy eating it.

Now I'm confused of where I should keep it. Should I keep it in the fridge? Or should I keep it outside the fridge? Won't ants come to get it if I don't store it in the fridge? I once kept date palm fruit in the fridge, but the fruit became firmer/tougher to bite, I'm not sure if that's better.

Advice? Help? Thanks.

Answer

The dates you have are probably brahi, whereas the ones you remember eating before are medjhoul. These are different types of dates, and have slightly different flavour profiles.

As for storage, they should be fine for a few days at room temperature. For anything longer than that, they should be kept in the fridge, particularly if you live somewhere hot/humid. I also vaguely remember an old Israeli habit of eating yellow dates frozen, or after a few minutes out of the freezer.

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