"Figeddaboutit" Fig Enlightenment with Recipe Inspirations

                                               “FIGEDDABOUDIT”

                             Fig Enlightenment with Recipe Inspirations

My husband Richard and I spent two glorious weeks in Southern Italy with relatives last summer. Our evenings spent sitting under the stars at a long wooden dining table, filled with food and tasty contributions from cousins and friends. We danced, we dined, we conversed. Sometimes words were lost in translation but precisely expressed by the universal language of love.

While enjoying some local cheese and figs picked that morning, my husband expressed his love of figs, fichi, in Italian.  The men at the table vigorously agreed, with a lot of head shaking and snickering! Not being aware of the “double meaning,” my cousin whispered in his ear the definition of the “double meaning.” The word “fig “ references a woman's private body part. Embarrassed, Richard stood corrected, but the men were still all in agreement! We now refer to the fig as fichi when we are in Italy. I'm not sure what vernacular my husband now uses when he sits with his posse sharing an expresso!

By nature, most Southern Italians have exuberant, passionate personalities. Even if their English isn’t perfect, the eyes, body, and hand gestures speak louder than words. When trying to get me to converse in Italian, my friend Emmanuela enunciates “to speak Italian; you must be an actress.” If it were only that easy!

That summer in Italy dispelled the myth that figs originated in my Grandmothers backyard in Brooklyn. She treated that tree like an immediate relative. My memories are still very clear of picking the figs from the tree and, gently washing and leaving them to dry on the white flour- cloth dishtowel — my first introduction. Figeddaboutit. A term I coined referencing the “Welcome to Brooklyn “sign in Bay Ridge, Fuhgeddaboudit.

In  Southern Italy, fig-trees grow with wild abandon scattered amongst rocky terrain, sharing the territory with olive groves. Edible treasures. Once again, the earth delivers.

Inspirations:

Cut figs in half, spread on mascapone cheese, add a toasted walnut and drizzle with warm honey. Sprinkle with mint or fresh rosemary. Recipe on theothersideofthespatula.com

Add to salads, using an apple cider vinegar-based dressing. Recipe on theothersideofthespatula.com

Slice fig in half, top with blue cheese and wrap with a half slice of prosciutto to make a bundle. Serve on a platter with toothpicks.

Adorn a cheeseboard with sliced figs and Marcona almonds.

Stuff figs with goat cheese and broil

Oven roast and enjoy over vanilla ice cream

Fresh Fig Cake

Make Jam