Amazing Figs

[Guest guest]

Greetings:This may not be a very good food combination but I can't help myself during FIG SEASON.Of course they are super fantastic in their natural state but I like to spread fresh homemade Macadamia Nut Butter, warm, right out of the Vita Mix on these delicacies.Thought I'd pass this article on to the

group.Elaine Calimyrna Figs Green figs, with their chartreuse skins and vivid pink interiors, tickle my fancy in a way their plummy purple brethren can not. To my taste, green figs are moister, sweeter, more tender and most assuredly prettier than dark varieties. We in the US have the Spanish to thank for bringing figs to Florida in the 1500s. Franciscan missionaries brought the "Mission" fig to California in 1769. But as

palates refined, fig needs increased; a group of proto-foodies out of San Francisco organized to bring the tastiest fig, the Sari Lop, from Smyrna, Turkey. The effort seemed doomed, because the Sari Lop trees wouldn't produce fruit. Luckily, an American botanist managed to solve the problem by importing a tiny insect to pollinate the trees - a bold move considering that the wisdom of the time dictated that fig trees required no pollination (it's true that many don't). With the first figs came California's dried fig industry, and they re-named their pride and joy "Calimyrna". For more detailed fig information, visit the North American Fruit Explorers Fig Page. Dried figs still account for most fig sales, but fresh figs are a

summer treat that's not to be missed. Both green (like Calimyrna) and dark (like Black Mission) figs are perfect for eating out of hand — just hold their little stems and finish them off in a bite or two — and they can be used interchangeably in most recipes calling for fresh figs. Happy Eating! - Samantha for Diamond Organics

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