Went to my local Kroger this morning to pick up some fruit to eat at work and noticed they were selling 8oz blister packs of California black mission figs. I have little to no experience eating fresh figs but growing them from cutting has become a small hobby of mine. So I couldn’t resist. They were tasty but they didn’t blow me away by any means. The fig I show cut open was quite bland but a few others seems more ripe and juicy and had more flavor. I can’t wait until my own trees start producing to see what real fresh figs taste like. Although I am aware that the first few years worth of figs are often not very good.
I believe in all my years this is the first time I’ve seen fresh figs at a large grocery chain.
Publix in my area will usually have Brown Turkey or Black Mission from California for a few weeks in season, but I do believe this is the first I’ve heard of Kroger carrying them. My own tended to be sweeter, but I can let them sit longer. Hope you enjoyed them…
Thanks. I’ve noticed about half of them are nice and ripe and taste nice but the other half aren’t as ripe and taste bland. Will the figs ripen and improve taste if I leave them sit longer?
Lots of Italian influence in NY. I’ve even seen fresh figs at farmers markets here and they are fairly common in many grocery stores- especially ones with Italian names like DeCicco’s and D’agistino’s in my neighborhood. Fortunately I have plenty of my own- store bought ones usually only have, at best, a few ripe ones in the box.
Figs grown where it is dry can last more than a day or two when ripe if refrigerated but they are more perishable than most fruit, I agree.
It either rots or shrivels up to form a dried fig. Hot and dry out in the sun might give you the dried figs. But for normal indoor conditions they rot.
Our local Stop n’ Shop carries both green and black during July and August. I always flip the clear box over to look for mold on the bottom of the fruit. They are usually always over-ripe. I don’t grow figs so I look forward to at least one box of these. They are usually disappointing as they have no taste and taste like ‘refridgeration’.
Publix grocery Stores are the only place in the Nashville, TN area to buy fresh figs. I am proud of them for trying, but only about 1 of every 2 are worth eating and none of them compare to fully vine ripened figs. This past winter all of my fig trees- in spite of some extensive efforts to protect some of them- were all killed to the ground. Fortunately, almost all of them grew back from the roots. Of course they didn’t make it back to full size, but I must say its amazing to me how much growth they can put on in one season! Sadly though, I get 0 Berber and only a few ripen at the end of full season. But for those who don’t grow figs, I implore you to give them a try. Extremely easy to propagate and grow, insects don’t touch them, and there are few things on earth (to me) as wonderful as a fully ripened fig allowed to get to the state where it literally tastes like a ball of fig flavored jam. mmmm. Unfortunately, my free range chickens love them as much as I do! ha
I’d say that the Brown Turkeys wife brought home was pretty decent. Closer to tree ripened than your average summer fruit.
They grow easily in Phoenix, Arizona and bear fruit twice a year. They have a kind of low-class image and aren’t grown as much as you would think in the newer housing developments.
I believe figs should be held in higher regard. They are delicious and very nutritious. And they have some fiber, an added health benefit.
George Washington’s fantasy was for his fig trees to get huge and bear annual crops so he could just sit under them and eat home-grown fruit in perfect peace and seclusion. He frequently got frustrated when his trees suffered die-back during the occassionally very-cold winters of Northern Virginia.
In some old Middle-Eastern literature, figs were described as the fruits of the kings. I was in the Middle-East three years ago, in the land of figs and olives. Nothing tastes as good and refreshing as ripe and freshly picked figs. I used to go to the market everyday looking for figs. I would say, I like them as much as good peaches, if not more.
