pollinated by tiny wasps that enter through the
pore. Many fig varieties will set fruit without
pollination and produce “seeds” with no
embryo inside, but fig experts say that
fertilization and seed development seem to
generate different flavors. (Wasps carry
microbes into the fig interior, so fertilized
fruits also suffer greater spoilage.) Smyrna
figs and their descendants (“Calimyrna” is the
California version) will not set fruit unless
fertilized. They must be grown alongside a
separate and inedible crop of “caprifigs,”
from which the wasps obtain fig pollen and
lay their eggs.
Food Words: Date, Pomegranate
Date comes from the Greek word for
“finger,” daktulos, which the elongated
fruits resemble. Pomegranate comes from
medieval French, and is a combination of
Latin roots meaning “apple” and “grainy”
or “seedy.”