Think in taste, appreciate the ordinary

Five fig facts

featured image for five things about figs

1. The blossom is within

Have you ever noticed a fig tree has no blossom? Well, it actually has flowers but the grow within the fruit we eat.  A bit different from capers and artichokes. Those are buds but destined to become flowers.

How do they get pollinated? Well, that is quite a story. And we’ll tell you all about later.

a fig tree has no apparent blossom, the flowers grow within

2. A dried fig

a sun dried fig can last and become a treat for dark winter days

How to conserve figs? Well, being fruit marmalade is always a solution. Sweetened sweetness.

Drying them is easier and far healthier. Cut them lengthwise, leaving both sides attached. After some days of sunbathing there are ready for dark winter days. Food for Olympians. And modern people looking for a healthy snack.

3. Fig wasp

Figs and wasps live in mutualism. One can’t do without the other. 

The male wasp prepares a tunnel in a male fig. The female wasp enters and lays her eggs. Now, what we eat are the female figs. So no worries. When a female wasp gets into a female fig, she can’t get out. Hence the myth of the wasp in figs.

Modern agronomy has bypassed this ‘glitch’. Vegetarians should not worry any longer when having figs.

fig and wasp live in mutuality

4. Religion

adam and eve clad with fig leaves

Figs are more than a simple fruit. Some say the forbidden fruit in Eden was a fig and not an apple. That surely would explain the leaves Adam and Eve used to cover their nakedness.

Buddha received enlightenment sitting under a fig tree.

The ancient Greek offered figs to their gods. Especially when asking for sexual related favors.

From Africa to Asia figs represent fertility.

5. Fruity medicine

Have a fig! Rich in fiber and hence a remedy for constipation. Figs are rich in calcium. Good for your bones and teeth. The antioxidants present keep your cells young. And may protect you from various kinds of cancer.

Do you want more? Reinforcement of the immune system. Controlling high blood pressure. Amino acids necessary during pregnancy. And some use them as a scrub. 

A fig aday…

fruity medicine

More '5 things' articles

Further more

Reference.guru

man sleeping on a bench with a typical Sicilian hat

From dusk till dawn

From dusk till dawn

An arbitrary selection of the finest place to stay overnight
snooze
silhouette of a man eating, wearing a typical Sicilian Coppola

Dig in

Dig in

Feeling peckish, hungry or ravenous?
waiter, please