Many Americans have a fixed image when they think of figs: sticky dried fruit stuffed inside a cakelike cookie to make - good ol' Fig Newtons.
Those lucky enough to have sampled a fresh fig while traveling in a Mediterranean country may have an entirely different image. Figs tend to evoke rhapsodic memories of that silky, plump exotic fruit eaten one perfect day in Italy - a taste that has nothing to do with Nabisco.
But now fresh figs are hit- ting mainstream America and changing the image of figs from the cookies stuffed into lunch boxes or treats from far-flung places to that succulent fruit you can buy down the street.
Fresh figs are appearing in chain supermarkets and being showcased on the Food Network. California growers report their shipments to stores have skyrocketed in the past four or five years. They even set up a Web site two years ago - www.calfreshfigs.com - because so many people were asking about fresh figs and recipes.
"It seems like the light bulb has come on," said George W. Kragie, president of Western Fresh Marketing, a Los Osos, Calif., company that represents fig growers. He attributes the spike in the fruit's popularity to celebrity chefs, such as Emeril Lagasse and Martha Stewart, featuring fresh figs.
When Kragie started his business in 1994, he was selling about 240,000 pounds of fresh figs a year. This year, he said, he is on track to sell 3.5 million pounds. "All the recipes and people talking about figs, it just kind of snowballed. It's feeding on itself," said Kragie, who sells to such stores as Giant Foods, Stop-and-Shop and Whole Foods Market. Prices range from $2.50 to $3.99 a pint at local stores.
At Whole Foods Market in Mount Washington, sales have doubled in the past year to 48 pints a day during the season, according to Moses Rivera, the produce manager.
For fig aficionados, it's a welcome trend.
"If you can get figs at the IGA in Kent, [Conn.], there must have been a revolution," said Maggie Stearns, author of The Hay Day Cookbook: Menus and Fresh Cooking Ideas From the Fabulous Hay Day Country Farm Markets (Atheneum, 1986, $12), which centers on cooking with fresh fruit and vegetables.
Stearns, like many cooks, says probably the best way to eat figs is right off the tree, or out of the box. They can be wrapped in prosciutto and grilled (you can also skip the grilling) or served with a dollop of mascarpone or creme fraiche. Just snap the small stem off. For a tasty dessert, dip the sliced side of fig halves in sugar and broil until sugar is bubbling, remove and serve with ice cream.
