Dates from the Tafilalet

What it is

These are fruits of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) of the Mejhoul variety, spelled “Majhoul” in the order.¹ They are brown and lighter at the top, elongated, often with one or two bulges on the side, and have a semi-soft flesh.² A date is 2.5 to 6.5 centimetres long, weighs 15 to 30 grams and contains 20 to 30 per cent water.³

In Moroccan Arabic dates are called tmer, a single date temra; the date palm is called nexla.⁴

Where it comes from

The area of the protected indication covers communes in the province of Errachidia, among them Errachidia, Erfoud, Aoufous, Goulmima, Tinejdad and Boudnib, as well as Alnif, M’cissi and Hsya in the province of Tinghir.⁵ Protection was applied for by the Association Oasis Tafilalet, an association for promoting the area’s products.⁶

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the Drâa-Tafilalet region supplies 76 per cent of Morocco’s dates; for the 2025/26 season it expected 160,000 tonnes nationwide.⁷

History

An article by the University of California’s agricultural extension names the Tafilalet as the probable home of the variety and Mejhoul as a landrace selected there.⁸ In 1927 the American botanist Walter Swingle sent eleven offshoots from the oasis of Boudnib (Bou Denib) to the American Southwest; he was travelling with a research team studying bayoud disease, a fungal infection of the palms in the Tafilalet.⁹

How it is made

Pollination is done in the traditional way in dry, warm weather, and the palms are pruned after the harvest.¹⁰ Harvesting is by hand, and only the dates that have begun to ripen are picked.¹¹ The fruits are then laid out on tarpaulins in the sun for four to five days to finish ripening, and kept in the shade for twenty days to two months so that they keep their colour; they are sorted into three size classes.¹²

When

The harvest begins towards the end of August and continues until the end of October.¹³ Erfoud hosts the Salon international des dattes au Maroc, held for the 14th time in 2025, from 29 October to 2 November.¹⁴ During Ramadan dates are part of breaking the fast (ftour); in the Souss, amlou follows as one of the first dishes after the dates.¹⁵

How to recognise it

The label bears “Indication Géographique Protégée Dattes Majhoul de Tafilalet” or “IGP Dattes Majhoul de Tafilalet”, the official PGI logo and the inspection body, which in the 2010 order is Normacert.¹⁶