Ode to the Fig

So at 41 years of age, I’ve discovered the fig. Sure, as a child I ate Nabisco Fig Newtons, but I’m not sure that counts as eating a fig.

At the risk of seeming unworldly, I’ll admit that that I probably couldn’t have identified a fig, and I certainly had not tasted one…until last month. First, I tasted one at the farmers’ market while on a nutrition tour there. Loved it! I learned that not only was it tasty, but packed with nutrients and fiber. So I bought some, and ate them all within an hour of getting home. Within a few days, a sign popped up in the front yard of a house I pass several times a week. “Fresh Figs” the cardboard sign read. I stopped there. Nice lady and plenty of fig trees. She puts the sign out whenever the figs are ripe and she’s home to sell them. Shortly after that, I celebrated lunch out with friends at Herons in The Umstead Hotel & Spa. (My youngest was off to kindergarten, and I was free to eat lunch out again!) Herons was offering a special three-course market menu featuring local ingredients. Dessert involved figs. Loved it!

So you see a pattern here. With my new love of the fig, I’ve been searching online for fig recipes that look good, and I have found quite a few. So far, I’m still just popping them into my mouth for a snack. They ripen so fast, after all. Maybe next fig season I’ll actually cook something with them. If you have a favorite fig recipe, share it with us at info@westernwakefarmersmarket.org.