candied figs

The best thing, ok, well, second best thing (I literally lived across the street from Pete’s Candy Store, possibly the coolest bar ever on the surface of our planet, so that was definitely the best thing) about my awesome apartment on Lorimer street was the huge fig tree in the backyard. The landlord’s 100 year old aunt would pick the hugest platters of the black mission figs and would shove them with an agency that shocked me for all her years, into my arms (she would also shove meatballs into my hands for me to “eat on the way to the subway,” but that is another delicious blog for the future). Months later I would realize that we were probably living on a superfund site with super toxic soil, but whatever, I was already looking forward to the next year’s batch of this crazy, decadent fruit.

Turkey figs, however, however, can go suck an egg. but there is hope for this much lesser fig, and it is found in boiling bubbles of sugar water. Behold, the turkey fig transforming candied fig recipe- feel free to use it to adorn fancy cupcakes, roll them up in bacon or prosciutto, or use as a pastry filling after refrigerating and chopping them up. I recommend making these after practicing making a still life painting with your platter of figs.   While you capture the curves and colors of this awesome fruit, take time to consider these questions: did you know that fig trees have both male and female figs? And the male inedible figs are home/ nursery to fig wasp eggs and larvae? And that the edible female figs release an enzyme to break down and exhausted wasps that have died trying to lay eggs in them? This mutualistic relationship makes me amazed at figs even more and more sure they are not from this realm!