Fig Heaven

Ever since David and I took up residence in our little country house just outside the center of Granada back in March, I've admired a gnarled old shade tree that hangs over the table on our barbecue terrace. But it wasn't until the summer, when it started sprouting small, green teardrop-shaped fruit, that I realized it was a fig tree.

Weeks dragged by as I periodically squeezed the hard fruit, eager for signs of ripeness. Near the beginning of September, they started to magically inflate, almost doubling in size and softening. They stayed green, however, which threw me—I was only familiar with the black Mission figs. I came to discover that I enjoy these greenies, known as Adriatic figs, more than their purple-skinned counterparts.

The Adriatics have a clean, almost refreshing, taste, sweet but not syrupy. And they dress up beautifully. Apart from straight off the tree, my favorite way to eat them is in a recipe I got years ago along with one of my bimonthly organic produce deliveries from Capay Farms, a family-run farm in the Bay Area that offers the next best thing to having a backyard garden and orchard.

This recipe requires no measuring and can be prepared in less than five minutes—in fact, it's so easy, it only takes a sentence to explain: Slice figs (green or black, as many as you want) in half, arrange on a serving plate, drizzle with E.V. olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and sprinkle with salt, fresh-ground black pepper and chopped fresh basil; let sit for at least a half hour. You can also quarter the figs and toss all the ingredients together in a bowl with no loss of deliciousness.

Now that it's mid-October, our fig tree's reaching the end of its season and I'm sorry to say goodbye to my little fig-and-basil delights. Lucky for me, the fruit on our persimmon tree is just about ripe.

Comments

[Nora]

That sounds delicious, Amberly. I might actually like those. I think the purple figs are too sweet the same way raisins are too sweet.

--Nora

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