Fig Out
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Tuesday, September 20th, 2011
By the end of summer each and every year, I find myself, sadly, having to say farewell again to a number of my favorite fruits: peaches, nectarines, plums, watermelon. Of course, there are some great things to look forward to in the fall, such as apples and pumpkins.
But I’m going to take a couple of minutes to honor one of my other favorite types of fruits—dried fruits. Dried fruits are great because they’re accessible and delicious at any time of the year, duh, because they’re dried. Though the most popular dried fruit varieties are arguably raisins, cranberries, apricots, or on rare mention, maybe mango or pineapple—which, in my opinion, are all undoubtedly delicious—I’m going to pay tribute to the dried fig.
- Image: Madlen/Shutterstock
Fresh figs are common in the Mediterranean, and you can find them in your average supermarket here during the summer into September, but you can find dried figs much more easily, anytime, year-round. And, of course, there’s no shortage of Fig Newtons in any store, at any point of the year.
- Image: bogdan ionescu/Shutterstock
Dried figs are one of my favorite healthy sweet treats, either to chop up and add to baked goods, toss in salads, or just eat plain. The tiny seeds inside figs when they’re dried have a very unique texture, beyond crunchy, and I find myself enjoying the almost popping sensation in my mouth as I chew them. Plus, figs are great because they’re super rich in fiber and potassium (but, as are any other dried fruits, very high in sugar).
- Image: Drozdowski/Shutterstock
So, in honor of the fig, I’m really excited to be able to blog about an event coming up: this weekend, Ticonderoga Farms is hosting none other than a Fig Lovers Feast! This event will reap the benefits of fresh figs before they go out of season and you have to start resorting to dried figs from the supermarket. The day-long event is honoring the farm’s freshly harvested figs with tastings, drink pairings and recipes, including fig sorbet, fig preserves and their “figalicious pizza,” which sounds and looks incredible and is making me drool already. Aside from tasting all of these delicious fig-related things, they will also offer a hayride visit down to their fig grows, where you can see and learn about the harvest of our beloved figs.
I’m definitely going to try to make it to what sounds like fig heaven to me—I hope you will too!
Ticonderoga Farms’ Fig Lovers Feast will take place from 12:30-5:00 p.m., Saturday, September 24 at 26469 Ticonderoga Road in Chantilly. Tickets are $35. RSVP by calling 703-327-4424 or emailing osimpson@ticonderoga.com. Rain date (as already used once for Irene): Sunday, September 25.
Go on, get figgy with it.
-Julia Harbo
Tags: Chantilly, fall, farms, festivals, fiber, figs, food, fruit, Gut Check, harvest, hayride, healthy, julia harbo, Northern Virginia, Northern Virginia Magazine, NoVA, Sugar, Summer, ticonderoga farms