Figs are beginning to ripen

In New Orleans fig trees grow everywhere... often in people's yards, on private property, but also on public street corners and other public spaces. Right now, many figs are still green, but some are beginning to turn purple or bright yellow––a sign that they are ripe for the picking.

You can recognize fig trees pretty easily by their large, green palmate leaves (and, of course, by the fruit itself).

As I noted in a previous blog post, you can dehydrate the leaves and make a delicious, healthful herbal tea from them. You can also eat the figs raw, right off the tree (though it's better to wash them first, just to be safe). The sweetest figs I've found growing in New Orleans ripen to a soft purple.

These have a sweet, light taste and a rich texture, almost like biting into a ripened peach.

My absolute favorite way to eat foraged figs, however, is to partially dehydrate them. I put them in my food dehydrator just long enough that they are warm and beginning to ooze some of their sweet liquid, and then I eat them. The short (about 1-2 hours) dehydration makes them taste sweeter.

If I buy figs, I tend to buy them dried––they taste sweeter and keep longer. I also cook with dried figs rather than raw ones. One of my favorite recipes is a slow-cooked pot roast with dried figs. You can find the recipe here (just substitute dried figs for the dried fruit). Very healthy and delicious.

Happy foraging!