I’ve never had anything like this. Portuguese pingo de mel ("honey drop") figs, so named because they drip sugar when they’re ripe. Grown in the Alentejo region, preserved in sugar by the same group of nuns who make our Elvas Sugarplums.

You'll want to experience this in full. Hold one up to the light. First, notice it’s improbably heavy when you pick it up. Next, look how it glows from within.

The texture is like candied chestnut but not as chalky. The flavor opens up after you taste one, and the dominant flavor of caramelized chestnut honey goes on and on, lingering long after you swallow. I swear eating one made me high.