It is late summer here in Florida and that means I have fig recipes because it is fresh fig season and it is short. We have been busy creating fig recipes and eating them! Since being on the Mediterranean Diet I usually have dried figs or dates on hand in my pantry. These dried fruits are nice to add natural sweetness to various dishes. I also use them on a quickly-put-together mezze dessert-platter. Please know, I am not bashing dried figs, but they are not comparable to fresh figs. Fresh figs have a soft, sweet, honey-flavor and I always feel very exotic when eating them.
Buying Fresh Figs
Here in Florida, I am more likely to find Brown Turkey figs and Black Mission figs sold fresh at the grocery store. To clarify, Mark is more likely to find them, as he is our resident grocery shopper. (Yes, I am lucky!) Since we started the Mediterranean Diet, my Sweetheart is very good about sticking to restocking our pantry and buying groceries on the list. The grocery list is specific to the ingredients needed for the menus I have planned for the week. This focus help us to maintain our eating lifestyle. Planning also ensures less waste of fresh produce.
Fresh Figs Demand Attention
Last Saturday, Mark broke our routine and surprised me with three packages of figs, one Black Mission and two Brown Turkey figs. This caused me to have to do some menu rearranging. Believe me – it was well worth it!! Fig season always sneaks up on me and I am grateful my Sweetheart knows me well enough to deviate from the plan! Fresh figs are only available for a few weeks. Prior to being with Mark, I was lucky to go to the grocery store once or twice a month. Thanks to him I never miss my fresh fig season. In fact, I also text a couple of girlfriends who I know share my penchant for figs letting them know they are available! My friend, Janet, received my text and went to the store and picked up two packages of fresh figs that day. She gets my excitement.
Fresh Brown Turkey Figs
Fresh Brown Turkey figs are my favorite. The taste is very mild and light. It is honey and butterscotch with just a hint of nuttiness. Brown Turkey figs have fewer seeds than the Black Mission figs. Brown Turkey figs are not as common to find in the grocery store. Usually dried figs available in my area are Black Mission figs. Maybe because the Brown Turkey figs are so mildly sweet and delicious they are gobbled-up before they can be dried? See what I did there with gobbled and Brown Turkey? Do not worry, I know I am not a comedic writer. I will stick with food and cooking. 😊
My Childhood with Figs
I did not grow up eating figs and my only association with figs was the store-bought cookie, Fig Newton. My Grandpa loved eating fig newtons and Grandma always kept a package in her cookie bin. While they were my Grandpa’s cookie, I enjoyed one from time-to-time until my high school chemistry teacher ruined it for me.
Each year, the day before Thanksgiving break, he read to the class a list of FDA approved “defect levels” in food. From him I leaned there are insects, like wasps parts, in Fig Newtons. Insects and other “defects” inside certain foods is allowable. The defect-list is published by the Food and drug Administration. My high-school Chemistry teacher read this mind-blowing list to his Juniors every year. As if suffering through Chemistry was not enough of a punishment? It was rumored he was told not to share the list, but he conveniently forgot each year – just in time for the holidays.
Back to Eating Figs
Despite being scared off figs as a sixteen year old, I found the courage to try them again, and no “defect list” will deter me again. I would not say figs are my favorite fruit, I would say I love exclusive things and they are exclusively offered just a few weeks out of the year. There are actually two seasons, early in the summer and then later in the late August through late September. For some reason, I rarely see fresh figs in grocery stores on the short early season. This makes the exclusivity of the second season so fantastic.
Fig Recipes: Fresh Fig Season is Short
If you are still reading this post, than it must mean you are at least open to enjoying figs. While the recipes will be designed with fresh figs, you can use dried figs if that is all you can access. For those of you fortunate enough to have access to fresh figs, I promise I will share my favorite fig recipes with over the next few days since fresh fig season is short. I understand the urgency! Figs are more versatile than one would think. We have enjoyed delicious breakfasts, light lunches, and savory dinners where figs have stolen the show.
If you decide to join the fig craze, let me know. I will continue to add Fig Recipes to this blog. You can also select the tag button “figs” on the bottom of the Olive Sunshine website.
