Dried Fig
Zerrin on 04 12, 2009
Kuru incir
I want to introduce the kinds of dried fruits used in Turkey in my blog and dried figs will be the first today. Dried fruits have an important place in Turkish kitchen, I don’t know if other cultures have the same habit of getting prepared for Winter during Summer. In Summer, people in Turkey are just like ants as they love spending time on kitchen preparations for Winter. What are these preparations? They dry fruits, vegetables, they make pepper paste and tomato paste and dry it under sun. They make the utmost benefit from the sun as the climate is so convenient for drying things. However, those living in big cities don’t have a chance of doing these at home, so they buy from a supermarket or go buy it from villages nearby. As you all know, buying something from its origin is always the best.
Dried fruits are used in different ways. They can be used in compotes (stewed fruit), in cakes, in desserts, in some dishes or they can even be comsumed plain.
Mom brought these dried figs you see in the picture from Aydın, the city of Turkey which is famous for its figs. She bought them from villagers at bazaar, so they are all natural unlike the ones sold in supermarkets.
Tons of figs are sent to other cities of Turkey and all around the world from Aydın. As you know, fig is a Summer fruit and when I was a child, I used to look forward to climbing its tree and eating kilos of fig on it in Summers. Its leaves make you itch, but it didn’t matter for me as a child.
Towards the end of Summer, people in Aydın start to dry figs for winter. They pick figs and lay them on a piece of cloth in a field and these figs start to dry under sun and then they are coated with flour to prevent any decays. Dried figs are as tasty as the fresh ones, so these are like a kind of dessert even plain. And you can eat them as a healthy snack between meals. Moreover, it has also several benefits for our health. It is rich in proteins and vitamins which renew cells in the body. It helps our digestion system with its fibrous structure, protects our body from bacterium, reduces the level of cholesterol in blood.
Although it has a large amount of sugar in it, it’s not harmful as it’s all natural sugar. Doctors recommend those who hate milk to eat figs, which contain the necessary calcium for health
In Winter people generally consume dried figs plain or with walnuts, they make jam of it, they make desserts of it, or they use it in cakes. We love dried figs so much that we always have a jar of them on the kitchen table to reach easily whenever we crave for a snack or dessert. So these dried figs can replace candies, chocolate or other junk food.
Fig Tree
There is an idiom in Turkish culture: to plant a fig tree in one’s yard. It means to make something very bad for someone, to give harm to someone. The reason behind this idiom is that roots of a fig tree are very strong and they can spread easily. If we imagine that someone plants a fig tree in your yard, your house will collapse soon because of the roots of the tree.
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Kuru meyveleri tanitmak cok guzel bir fikir. Amerika’daki marketlerde bile Turk mali kuru meyveler var, ama cogu insan bilmiyor. Hem cok faydalilar, hem de lezzetli. Guzel bir post.
Teşekkür ederim Nihal Hanım,
Amerika’da meyveleri kuru tüketmek gibi bir kültür var mı diye merak ediyordum, demek o kadar bilinmiyor. Umarım bu faydalı yiyeceklerin daha iyi tanıtımları olur.
I’m constantly adding a new food to try each time I visit here! I don’t believe I’ve had whole dried figs before , at least none that look this good. Consequently, it’s ironic that the planting of a fig tree has negative symbolism.
The only fig I ever tried was a fig newton. I need to branch out more and try the real stuff.
Love, love, love figs, both fresh and dried (though I rarely have a chance to sample them fresh, we don’t have the climate for them here)
Those are perfect looking dried figs! I’d love to try some figs from Aydin. And, I didn’t know that about fig tree roots. Interesting!
MMMMM..these dried figs look lovely! I love fresh & dried figs!
Do you have a tree in your garden?
Thanks for the info too, Zerrin!
oh yum, I looooove figs of all sorts! And thats a really interesting idiom! i would still love a fig tree though.
Tangled Noodle- we also eat these whole dried figs stuffing it with walnuts.And it becomes more tasty and gives energy. But as you said, planting a fig tree in someone’s yard has a negative meaning in Turkish.
Jenn- I hope you can find and have that delicious fruit.
Daily Spud- Also in Turkey, not every region has a suitable climate for figs. They love hot weather.
Lisa- Its roots are really strong.
Sophie- Luckily noone’s attempted to plant a fig tree in our garden. lol.
Lauren- I also love fig trees, especially when they are full of fruit.
We go through a lot of dried figs here – they are the perfect snack! I love to dice them up and add them to bread and just about anything els. Thanks for sharing!
I eat dried figs everyday! Usually all on their own as a snack and sometimes with a little bit of cheese. I love them!
Oysterculture- I sometimes add them diced in cakes, but never tried in bread. It must be great!
Reeni- I’m sure dried figs and cheese make a great couple, I should try them together.Thanks.
We love dried figs and should try to have them more often. Your picture of figs is fantastic!
I love these little tidbits about turkish culture. I found the idiom regarding the fig tree quite interesting! We do have a fig tree in our garden (planted by ourselves) so it is with great relief (I hope) that our home won’t collapse.
I’ve been craving figs for a while now, but haven’t come across any where I normally shop. I even have a dessert using figs that I’ve had to put on hold until I can locate them.
I loved this post, and I envy your proximity to so many of these wonderful fruits. In Japan, too, people often start drying fruits for the winter months. I’m most used to seeing orange-red persimmons hanging on strings from the rooftops of people’s homes. It’s a beautiful sight!
[...] Tree I want to give another benefit of figs, which I forgot to mention in “dried fig” post. When you pick a leaf or the fruit itself from its tree, you see a white liquid just like [...]
Hi, thanks for sharing about figs. I’ve always wondered, how do you eat dried figs – eat it as a whole fruit or someway else?
Myf- Thanks for visiting my website. Dried figs are my favorite dried fruits and they can be eaten as a whole fruit. If I have no time for breakfast in the mornings, I eat e few dried figs with a cup of tea and it’s definitely so healthy as it helps your digestion system. Also, it can be added in cakes or even you can make a dessert from them. You can find the recipe of dried fig dessert here if you like: http://www.giverecipe.com/fig-dessert.html