The Elusive Delicacies

“I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a fresh fig.”

My mom, nearly 80 years old, made that statement while we were having dinner earlier this week. Shamelessly stuffing my face on Sunday mornings when they show up at a neighboring vendor, the thought of life without fresh figs took me aback.

I told her of my plans to take cuttings from a local tree after getting permission from the owner. If they’ll grow at his place, they’ll grow at mine. To pluck fruit from my porch is a vision I hope to one day make reality. That way I can indulge in multiple delicacies such as fig preserves, fig tart, figs wrapped in cured ham, figs stuffed with goat cheese, duck roasted with figs, fig gelato, figs in cognac…. You get the idea. Purchasing fresh figs for all those endeavors would cost a small fortune and that would be if I could get such a quantity.

Market patrons are so in love with their fresh figs I often get messages from them standing in line to verify their availability so they can power walk for them upon entering the market, kind of like the first few weeks of berry season only never achieving the volume of commercial crops.

Figs are delicate and begin breaking down within hours of being picked which is why they are mostly sold as dried or processed fruit. Farmers selling direct can get away with such offerings where shipping to a distributor who in turn delivers to a store would be logistics beyond figs’ capacity.

But did you know that figs aren’t exactly fruit? A fig is an inflorescence which is a cluster of many flowers and seeds contained inside a bulbous stem called a syconium. Cauliflower, mulberries, and bananas are all examples of inflorescences. Because of this unusual arrangement, the seeds—technically the ovaries of the fig—require a specialized pollinator that is adapted to navigate within these confined quarters. That pollinator is a wasp.

Very tiny Fig Wasps (Blastophaga psenes) burrow inside the immature inflorescence to lay their eggs. In the process the wasps lose their wings and antennae, which means the female wasps die inside the figs. In a matter of days the fig produces an enzyme called ficin which breaks down the body of the wasp, which is absorbed by the plant, kind of like a very picky Venus Fly Trap. The eggs laid by the female wasp hatch and exit through the hole on the bottom of the fig and fly off to find their own immature figs in which to repeat the process.

Fear not, if that process turns you off to figs know that most commercial orchards today raise cultivars that do not require Fig Wasps for pollination. Fig trees can also be tricked into producing through the use of artificial plant hormones.

Figs are a member of Ficus genus with over 750 unique species. It can grow as a tree, bush, vine, and even an epiphyte. There are no external flowers on the tree’s branches, instead growing together inside the skin of the bulb.

Evidence of figs being cultivated by humans dates back to 5,000 years BC, originating in Western Asia and migrating to the Mediterranean and Middle East. Today Turkey is the leader in both production and consumption. Their annual production is half of the world’s dried fig output.

Figs arrived in the United States in 1520 via the Spanish. Father Junipero Serra planted them at the Missions along the California coast. By 1900 figs were a commercial crop. Today California grows about 30 million pounds annually.

Figs have played prominent roles in every major modern religion, including Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism. Figs are also revered in the culinary arts being a versatile ingredient for both sweet and savory dishes. They were used as a sweetener prior to the refinement of sugar. Fig Newtons have been around since 1891!

My favorite way to prepare fresh figs is how I was first introduced to them while working at a fabled hot springs restaurant in the Ojai Valley of southern California back in the 80’s—fresh from the tree, squeezed open with a small dollop of crème fraiche and drizzled with honey. If you get to the market early enough you can get all three ingredients and enjoy this ethereal treat yourself.