Fig Season in the Northeast (and a recipe for fig leaf ice cream)
By Grace Roberts
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Figs are an incredibly versatile plant because not only can the fruit be harvested and used to make jam, desserts, or simply enjoyed on its own, but the fig tree’s leaves are an incredible source of unique flavor and potential.
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Fig trees are harder to come upon in the northern states because of their climate limitations. Traditionally a Mediterranean fruit, fig trees were initially introduced to the US in California by the Spaniards in the early 1500s. This is where the Mission Fig variety gets its name, from the missionary fathers who planted the trees up and down the coast from Sonoma to San Diego. Figs tend to thrive in consistently warm conditions, which is why California and states in the South tend to be recognized for growing them.
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However, farms in the Northeast have worked around this by planting individually-potted orchards of fig trees, where it’s possible to move each tree inside at the end of November, where they can spend the winter protected from freezes and snow.
Fig varieties such as Brown Turkey, Chicago Hardy, Celeste, and White Marseilles tend to withstand the cold better than their counterparts, so these are frequently found everywhere from New Jersey to New Hampshire. Carefully harvested to be enjoyed as they just approach being overripe, the fig’s gorgeous fruit can be enjoyed everywhere from a cheese board with goat’s cheese and fresh honey to a rustic fig galette with caramelized onions and a pate brisee.
Few people, save for the farmers who harvest them every year as August wanes, know very much about figs. Figs have a connotation of being a Southern fruit, but while the American South is a major market of figs, the fruit is not confined to any one region and are grown in both wild and cultivated manners across the Northeast as well.
But the real unsung hero of the fig tree are its leaves. Offering an unexpectedly tropical flavor, the notes of a toasted fig leaf are not unlike a coconut. The opportunities for fig leaves are quite widespread and long-lasting, which is advantageous if one can only forage or source a few at a time. Making fig leaf sugar is perhaps the easiest and most versatile option — with a little bit of this sugar, one can make cracked cookies, apple and fig leaf pies, or pastry cream for filling doughnuts or bomboloni. Fig leaf oil or fig leaf syrup are other great options for the leaves, and can last, refrigerated, for up to two weeks. It gives unique flavor to everything from lime sodas to gin gimlets! Sasha Piligian’s recipe for fig leaf sugar offers a great ratio, while Garden & Gun has great recipes for fig leaf cocktails and the syrup you need to make them.
However you enjoy them, there’s more to the fig than meets the eye, and if you live in the Northeast, don’t discount this fruit! You may even have an unsuspecting source close to home.
Recipe for fig leaf ice cream
(adapted from Garden & Gun)
