On Food and Cooking

the date they readily dry in the sun to a long-
keeping, concentrated source of nourishment,
they have been an important human food for
many thousands of years. The fig is the fruit
mentioned most often in the Bible, and was
said to grow in the Garden of Eden. Spanish
explorers brought it to the Americas via
Mexico, and it now grows in many dry
subtropical regions. There are many varieties,
some green-skinned and some purple, some
with bright red interiors. Ripe fresh figs are
80% water, very fragile and perishable. The
vast bulk of the world crop is preserved by
drying, a process that normally begins on the
tree and then concludes on the orchard floor
or in mechanical dryers.
The fig is unusual in being more flower
than fruit. The main body is a fleshy flower
base folded in on itself, with an open pore
opposite the stem, and inner female florets
that develop into small, individual dry fruits
that crunch like “seeds.” The florets are