A fig lineage originates from the prehistoric wild caprifig in Caria and spread across the Mediterranean. Cultivation likely began in Egypt and the Levant between 4000 and 2700 BC. Common fig imagery appears on ancient Egyptian mastaba walls, showing harvesting, consumption, and use in food processing. Fig leaves and sap provided natural rennet for cheese and yeast for wine. Fig varieties either reproduce without pollination or depend on tiny fig wasps. Botanically, figs are clusters of more than a thousand tiny flowers. Overripe figs develop honey-and-jam flavors and are used in pastries such as crostata di ricotta e visciole.
The fearless fig tree is a descendant of the prehistoric wild caprifig, which spread from Caria (hence the species name carica) in ancient Anatolia, across the Mediterranean. Cultivation is thought to have started in Egypt and the Levant, probably between 4000 and 2700BC; particular evidence of this is the common fig (Ficus carica) on the stone walls within ancient Egyptian tombs called mastaba, painted so their occupants could enjoy the fruit in the afterlife.
Either way, figs are botanically not a single fruit, but a cluster of more than a thousand tiny flowers, which are thought of as seeds. Figs are also one of the few fruits to taste best when over-ripe, when those thousand tiny fruits have matured into an ambrosial cross between honey and jam, and as a result perfect for attracting both wasps and this week's recipe.
Collection
[
|
...
]