Roasted Figs from Calabria

Drying, salting and smoking are the trinity of ancient methods to preserve a harvest. Of the three, drying is the simplest. Here are a few quick tips to finding the best tasting dried fruit.

Was the fruit grown where it was dried?

To get the most flavor out of your fruit you want to pick it ripe. But as we all know, ripe fruit is fragile. It doesn’t travel well. Once a ripe fruit is picked it rarely gets any better and far more likely gets worse. The best dried fruits are made where they are grown, with minimal travel and storage time between plucking and preserving.

Did they add anything to the fruit?

You don’t need to add anything when you dry fruit. At the most, some producers might a bit of citrus or citrus extract to stop oxidization (browning), keep the color brighter, that kind of thing. Anything beyond that and you gotta ask: why? Why the smoked chipotle powder? Why the added sugar? Those of us who’ve spent a long time tasting foods are always suspect when companies start adding flavors to foods that should taste good on their own. Sometimes the new flavors work, that’s great. But often they’re there to make some marketing razzle dazzle or, at worst, cover up something that didn’t taste good to begin with.

If it was cut, how did they cut it?

Small fruits like grapes and mulberries can be dried whole, but bigger fruits like mangoes or guavas need to be cut up before drying. Cutting the fruit into smaller bits and shreds can allow you to discard any bruised or damaged bits of fruit, but it also often makes for tougher texture. To keep the fruit in larger pieces, you have to start with fruit that’s in excellent, unbruised condition. Larger, thicker pieces generally have a softer texture.

How far did they dry it?

This is the one that separates the good from the great. You can dry a little or you can dry a lot. A little and you’ve got a fruit that’s soft, plump, maybe even a little juicy. A lot and you’ve got chewy leather. It’s easiest to cut everything small, turn the oven up, walk away, and have it done—to dry it a lot. But fruits come in at different ripenesses, different water contents. They need TLC if you want to make something that tastes great and has a luscious texture.

Preserved figs aren’t a food that’s lighting up many culinary radar screens. But I think they should be. They are great in all sorts of ways. With yogurt for breakfast. With cheese. With ice cream for dessert. And as a gift for someone with an eye for rustic foods with real flavor, you won’t find much better.

The fig never really caught on in America.

Even though figs are the most popular food mentioned in the bible and America was originally settled by avid bible readers, the fig never caught on here. There weren’t any fig trees planted in the U.S. until the first one came to San Diego in the mid 1700s. Commercial cultivation didn’t catch on until the late 1800s. Even today, we’re most likely to have eaten figs in newtons than we are fresh or, as we have them here, dried. Most of the fresh figs you see in U.S. produce markets are one of two varieties, Common or Mission, the latter named for the Franciscan monks who planted them. They’re both big with relatively thick skin.

The ones we feature, dried on their own or with chocolate or nuts, are often smaller with thinner skins. The Calabacita, a tiny fig that grows in only one village in Spain, in chocolate dipped figs. The Pajarero, paired with Marcona almonds in fig and almond cake. The sweet Portuguese pingo de miel. And the dotato from Calabria.

The dotato is the cream of our fig crop.

Picked and preserved by Franco Rao once a year in his home town of Cosenza in Calabria, far southern Italy. Franco starts with dotato figs that are left on the tree until they’re fully ripe, beginning to dry and concentrate. After hand picking, they’re caramelized over twenty-four hours in a low temperature oven. That’s a step almost no one else takes because it adds extra time and expense, but the difference it makes in flavor is huge. It gives the figs a roasted, caramel-sweet flavor that’s irresistible.

Next comes my favorite part. A handful of figs are molded into a sphere the size of a big apple and wrapped in aromatic fig leaves. It’s a traditional way to store them, rustic and attractive.

Moist, luscious and slightly honey sweet, Franco Rao’s figs will be a hit wherever you serve them.

Fig serving tips

Figs with cheese is very common in Italy and Spain, so pair some with any of those country’s cheeses. I like the combination of figs and saltier, tangy sheep’s milk cheeses. Pecorino Toscano and Manchego are great choices.

Figs and ham. Italian prosciutto, Spanish jamon serrano, American cured ham. They all make natural accompaniments.

Figs and yogurt are a natural combination. I love adding a couple of Franco Rao’s figs, plucked from. under the fig leaves, to fresh, plain yogurt for breakfast or a late night snack.