One of the best things about late spring and early summer is waiting for the first taste of seasonal fruits and vegetables. Just this week I had my first tomato sandwich of the summer; last week I had the first ear of summer - not grocery store - corn. Around the Fourth of July the really delicious watermelons, an old variety known as Jubilee, mature. Around that same time, the super sweet peaches from Chilton County, Alabama, begin to appear. All of these are so delicious and definitely worth waiting for.
There is one fruit which really makes my heart and taste buds sing - the fig. The irony of this statement is the fig is not a fruit per se, it is called a false fruit or scion. The fig is actually a hollow ended stem which contains many small flowers. There is a small opening on the scion known as an ostiole. This allows the fig wasp to enter and pollinate the flowers within.
Figs are an ancient plant. Evidence of figs dates back about 11,000 years. The fig may have been the first plant domesticated by man. The Greeks and Romans enjoyed figs as a regular part of their diets. The Greeks forbade export of the best quality figs. The Romans though figs were a sacred fruit. The fruit traveled around the known world from the Mediterranean to Europe, then to the New World with the Spanish missionaries.
In our part of the world two cultivars are most popular; these are Celeste and Brown Turkey. Celeste, known as the "sugar fig" is the older country fig of the South. Brown Turkey is a newer cultivar and tolerates the cold better. In the UK the Brown Turkey has been awarded the Royal Horticultural Society's Garden Merit.
As most of us know, after Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, they took fig leaves to make clothes to cover their bodies. This has always been a mystery to me because fig leaves, branches and trunks contain latex.
Many people are allergic to this latex filled sap and break out in a terrible rash. My grandmother was very allergic to fig leaves as well as to the wasps which enjoy the sweet fruit. However, these allergies did not deter her from suiting up almost like a bee-keeper to gather the delectable fruits to make even more delectable preserves. Marked by my grandmother's recipe I am definitely a fig preserve purist....no lemons, no strawberry Jell-o, just figs and sugar.
I have always remembered my grandmother's neighbor, Jessie Frith, who carefully peeled each fig, leaving the stem, and placed them precisely in a half-pint jar. They were a work of art, but oh, how time consuming.
As I have grown older and expanded my culinary horizons I learned that figs are as delicious used in savory dishes as in preserves. There is a particular chemistry which exists between a fresh ripe fig, a blue or goat cheese, and bacon, cooked to juicy perfection in the oven, which ranks as heavenly. Figs are also fabulous prepared as a chutney with sugar, vinegar, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, hot peppers, cloves and a slice of orange peel.
The fig has many wonderful properties besides being so delicious. According to a website known as "The World's Healthiest Foods" fresh figs are believed to help lower high blood pressure since they are a good source of potassium;
figs have high amounts of dietary fiber; figs could be protective against postmenopausal breast cancer; fig leaves may have insulin-lowering properties; the vitamins and minerals in fruits, including figs, can potentially protect against macular degeneration.
In my refrigerator at this moment are some beautifully ripe Celeste figs. I believe I am going to go and prepare a few of these Stuffed Figs and enjoy them right now.
Stuffed Figs
• At least 3 figs per person
• Your favorite blue cheese
• Thinly sliced bacon, partially cooked
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Coarse sea salt
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Cut a small slit in the side of each fig. Using a small spoon, place a bit of blue cheese in each fig. Wrap the partially cooked bacon around each fig, place the wrapped figs on a sheet pan. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes until the bacon is crispy.
Remove from the oven, carefully place on a serving platter, sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. Be careful not to burn your mouth on the hot cheese. n
Fran Ginn is former chef/owner of The Back Door Café, who retired after 31 years in the food industry to be a grandmother. She can be contacted at fran@franginn.com.
