Her idea was to glean figs from a huge fig tree that she passes daily on the walk to her son's school. She had already stopped at the house numerous times to ask permission to pick some fruit, but never to found anyone home. Further, the fruit was hanging over the fence onto a public sidewalk and even falling onto the ground and rotting. In cases like this, I consider it a public service to pick the fruit that would otherwise rot and attract pests. Of course, the fact that figs are amongst my favorite fruits only sweetens the deal.
This was my first time foraging fruit from someone's tree besides family or friends. In truth, it felt a little sneaky at first, but my sister-in-law told us she would persist in visiting the house until she can talk to the owner about the figs and offer to pick the bulk of the fruit still on the tree.
We only got a few pounds of figs, but were still excited about the possibilities. Fresh figs don't last long once picked, so I decided on an impromptu fig-strawberry preserve using green apple (which contains natural pectin) to thicken it up. It turned out pretty good, and pairs excellently with cheese. When we have friends over this weekend, I intend to spread it on brie, tuck it into puff pastry and turn it into this:
Other fig ideas for when we glean again include Fig Upside Down Cake and Ginger Fig Preserves:
Are you a fig person? What is your favorite way to eat them?
