Figs

There was a fig tree in our backyard in Morocco that I used to climb to look into the French neighbor’s yard to admire the blood-orange trees in his front yard. He was a butcher who made cold cuts and ran a business from home, which I now know to be a homestead. One of my chores growing up was to go over to their house to buy charcuterie and pick fresh oranges to make fresh-squeezed orange juice. Although I never actually ate fresh figs from our tree, dried figs were plenty, and I fell in love with their sweet and chewy texture. If you’ve ever had dried figs, you know exactly what I’m talking about. And if you’ve ever tasted fresh figs, you love their sweet, juicy textures. These days, I look forward to every fig season and can never get enough of them!

In case you’re wondering, fig season is early Spring to late Fall.

Highlighted Benefits

Figs are highly alkaline and contain powerful healing agents. They contain ficin, an enzyme that metabolizes protein into amino acids that the body uses to build muscles and connective tissues. Because of their ficin content, I’ve used figs in my marinades to help tenderize meats during fig season. They are also an excellent dietary fiber, calcium, iron, and potassium source.

In traditional remedies, dried figs can help to ease constipation, and fresh figs can help reduce digestive troubles when eaten before a meal.