Fresh Figs?

I ran into some Black Mission figs at Dominick's about a month ago, but haven't seen any anywhere since then. I know I can find them on the internet, but does anyone have a local source?

My mother swears up and down that it was commonplace to have fresh figs in Chicago in the 30s and 40s. My mother-in-law remembers tons of locally-produced figs as a kid on Long Island. Why does it seem they're only available from California now?

I'm dying to try a certain recipe, and I cannot substitue dried.

Whole Foods on Ashland carries them fairly regularly throughout the summer.

At Chicago Fruit Market on Montrose, between Whipple and Albany, I have seen fresh figs within the past week. I don't know much about figs, but these were green, not black.

If I wanted to learn more about figs, including such topics as the weird sex life of the fig, I could see myself starting here.

Two weeks ago, Marketplace on Oakton had both Mission and green figs [which I think are the same ones {calamata?} that get strung and dried] fresh for only $2.59 a pint. Good figs, best price I've ever seen.

Wasn't sure how to eat them, besides plain, at first. Finally hit upon wonderful preparation: quartered, covered with Greek yogurt, walnuts and honey. Delightful !

Giovanna wrote:Do not allow children to mix drinks. It is unseemly and they use too much vermouth.


-Steve Allen

Actually, it's Fran Lebowitz

(edited for spelling)

Marketplace on Oakton? Is that somewhere near Evanston or Skokie?

The recipe I have involves rosewater, orange blossom water, slivered pistachios, and cinnamon (and a few other things I can't remember at the moment) under the broiler for a few minutes, and served with mascarpone on the side. It's a Nigella Lawson recipe, but it seems like a really lovely way to eat them. Now that I have all the other ingredients on hand, I'm ready for the figs. It was actually kind of silly, the way I worried about where I'd find the flower waters. I was prepared to pay $4 at the Spice House for a quarter of the quantity. I ended up finding them across the street from my apartment at Cermak Produce for about a buck and a half each.

(I thought that quote was Fran Lebowitz, too, from "Metropolitan Life" or "Social Studies"? I'd have to check.)

girlmoxie wrote:Marketplace on Oakton? Is that somewhere near Evanston or Skokie?

I was just there on Sunday and they had fresh figs.

Marketplace on Oakton is at 4817 W. Oakton in Skokie, 847-677-9330.

It's my favorite all-around market in the area.

EatChicago post on Marketplace on Oakton

I just got back from Bari Foods, and they had figs for $1.99 a "basket".

Take a another look around Cermak Produce, girlmoxie. They had some black figs recently. In addition to Chicago Fruit Market, other places in or near Albany Park that usually carry fresh figs in late summer are Andy's Fruit Ranch (4733 N. Kedzie), Chicago Produce (3500 W. Lawrence) and Harvest Time (2632 W. Lawrence). Practically all good-sized fruit markets with substantive Greek, Italian or Mexican clienteles carry figs in peak season. Figs are very perishable, so supply can be erratic.

Treasure Isaland on Broadway had them both in the basket for $3.49 and some beautiful huge green figs for 99 cents each this past week. Move fast, as fresh fig season only lasts from late July to late August. Unfortunately, the basket of black figs had to be trashed due to an infestation of fruit flies.

My favorite preparation is to cut a small pocket in a ripe black fig, insert a small chunk of Maytag Blue, wrap the fig in some cheap Boars Head Prosciutto and roast them in a 350 oven for 10-15 minutes. The consumate cocktail food.

"Do not allow children to mix drinks. It is unseemly and they use too much vermouth. "

When I google this quote, I get a lot more returns for Steve Allen than Fran, not to dis Fran [and not to make any claims for the infalibility of Google or the internet]. It seems more like a 50's-60's quote to me than an 80's quote. Martinis didn't start getting hip again until the early 90's in my recollection.

I'm gonna stick with Steve on this one.

Giovanna

Well, maybe Fran stole it from him and didn't credit him, but I can say that in my copy of her book (The Fran Lebowitz Reader, published in 1994, the one that collects both Social Studies and Metropolitan Life and a few of her other writings) it's right there in print, not on the internet.

Amazon has this cool thing where you can search and view a page, see

http://shorterlink.com/?X8327F

Yep. There it is.

My position has always been "steal from the best". Not an accusation. I remain a skeptic, but I'm thinking it's time for a new signature anyway.

Has anyone seen figs in decent enough quantity to experiment and get decadent with, lately?

In the past I've bought whole cases of green figs on Devon Ave, cheaply. I haven't had a chance to get up there to check, have been out of town.

Also Bari sometimes has quarts at a really good price. Anybody been?

Thanks.
Ann

Ann,

I asked a similar question this week, and here's what happened:

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=1037

I ended up getting about 20 Brown Turkey figs from Chicago Produce on Montrose (I think that's the name), and a small bag of green figs - the variety, I'm not sure. The box of a dozen Brown Turkeys was three dollars. I cannot claim to be impressed with the quality, but I'm not a fig expert, by any means.

Ann VanMoxie

Caputo's Cheese in melrose park always has a pallet load of figs in the little baskets. i am thinking either 99 cents or 1.50. usually somehwere in the main entry area towards the deli

run, dont walk, to Whole Foods this weekend, if you love fresh figs as much as i do. i buy very little produce at WF because of the prices (not the quality). but today they have large mission figs, $3.99 for a pint (i got 9 large figs in a pint). last week i splurged and paid $6.99 for much smaller ones. today's are breathtakingly ripe(can i eat 9 figs in the next 2 days? no problem) and a real bargain. figs have such a short season and are so fragile.....it breaks my heart. and for some reason i havent figured out, i do not like dried figs; not even a little. anyway, today's lunch will be labriola ciabatta (very good) with manchego cheese and fresh figs. i might have some membrillo(quince paste) as well, to kick up the sweetness.(btw, all Whole Foods are different, i got these at north ave.) justjoan

They have figs at Cub, also, $3.x9 a pound (79? 89? 99?)

justjoan wrote:with manchego cheese and fresh figs.

The local Whole Foods also sells St. Andre cheese which is perfect with fresh figs.

Bill/SFNM

I'm there after work today, Joan. On a recent visit to Brazil, I was pleasantly surprised to find a Sunday morning street market for fruits and vegetable a block or two from my hotel in Sao Paulo.

I bought about six black figs that had to have been nearly the size of the palm of my hand and had them with a little gorgonzola that I purchased at a cheese stand in the market. They were absolutely delicious.

I skipped the hotel breakfast and feasted on them for a day or two.

Harvestime's got 'em for under $3 - usually 6 or 8 plump figs in a basket.

I like them with yogurt and honey w/nuts.

It's a perfect dessert.

Goat cheese is another winner with fresh figs, split in half.

I had a fig jam and peanut butter sandwich last week.

Thanks for the notice about their availability! I've been waiting for fresh figs!

Okay, I bought four pints of figs at Whole Foods and plan on serving one pint various ways tonight for dinner.

Any thoughts on preserving/freezing the rest? I've never tried to keep figs...can I wash and freeze them whole? Will they hold up when thawed? Or should I just eat 'em all before they turn?

I have tried freezing them and they were not too bad, but next time I think I will try poaching them in a liquid and then freezing.

Last summer I also put some in a jar and filled the jar with Chalfonte cognac. I was doing that with cherries, had a lot of figs too, and thought why not? After a few months the liquid was delicious but the figs were still alcohol bombs, like cherries when they are not ready but much worse. You could black out after eating eating one.

I made Ginger Fig Chutney with the fresh figs I bought last week based on a recipe I found online. It's good stuff. I canned about four jars of it by doubling the recipe, and plan to save a jar or two for winter to go with a lamb biriyani.

I still have a pint or so left to work with. Has anyone else hit on a good way to savor the fig while it's fresh (or save it for later)?

A pint of figs is a bit much for the two of us to eat at one sitting, and they are quite perishable. My wife's usual tack is to poach the others in the microwave using a couple of tablespoons of bianco vermouth as the poaching liquid. Figs have enough water so this works in the microwave to produce intense flavor. Poaching on the stovetop requires adding a some water and yields less intense flavor. Note that HarvesTime's cartons tend to be fuller than at some other stores.

Bianco vermouth is also good when poaching prune plums. For those not familiar with bianco, it is white, slightly sweet and usually includes a touch of cinnamon among the botanicals. We currently are using Stock, but Boissiere and Martini and Rossi also make good versions.

Edit to add warning: halve or quarter the figs before nuking to avoid risk of exploding figs.

How long do figs keep?

Not long. Mine lasted about four or five days in the refrigerator before they started getting mushy. You'll know when they're past due. I ate all the fresh I could 'til they started turning and used the mushy ones for compote and chutney.

Mmmmm -- Fresh, cold figs, first thing in the morning. Standing in front of the refrigerator with the door open, eating them out of hand in my PJs & on bare feet. This is the best of summer for me! :]

Sorry big box haters-I just bought 2 lbs. (24 total) in a package that separates each fig for $5.99 at Costco-figs with everything this weekend! I saw them at Caputo's last week at $3.99/pint for green, $5.99 for black figs, but jammed into the pint the inner ones did not look so good.