Are you perhaps a fan of figs ?
Many primates eat figs, but none of them is able to make lovely dishes with them.
Sandwiches, salads, all kind of deserts, to stuff meat, make a jam and eat with pattées… Let your imagination run wild, with figs you can hardly go wrong.
No matter if you love them fresh or dry, it has a lot of nutritional benefits. Eating half a cup of figs has as much calcium as drinking half a cup of milk. Ounce for ounce, figs have more fibre than prunes and more potassium than bananas.
Dried figs are an excellent source of minerals like calcium, copper, iron, manganese, selenium and zinc – all important for healthy red blood cell formation, as well for cellular oxidation. So, when fresh figs are not available, try soaking some dried figs in water for a few hours and blend into a sweet and creamy fig pudding or add to your favourite smoothie.
Figs have a 55%natural sugar content, making them the sweetest of all fruits. No wonder that the fig tree is a symbol of abundance, fertility and sweetness. Aside from being able to replace sugar with fig puree, it can also replace fat in baking. Furthermore, figs naturally help hold moisture in baked goods, keeping them fresher.
Not necesserly related to cooking facts, but here are some interesting informations regarding figs.
- Fig trees have no blossoms on their branches. The blossom is inside of the fruit! Many tiny flowers produce the crunchy little edible seeds that give figs their unique texture.
- Figs are harvested according to nature’s clock, fully ripened and partially dried on the tree.
- Many believe it was figs that were actually the fruit in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, not apples.
- The early Olympic athletes used figs as a training food. Figs were also presented as laurels to the winners, becoming the first Olympic “medal.”
- In Roman times figs were considered to be restorative. They were believed to increase the strength in young people, to maintain the elderly in better health and to make them look younger with fewer wrinkles.
And remember, the fig tree is wise, so eating those fruits helps us to make wise choices in our lives.
I wish you to enjoy these delightful fruits 😊