HI Terri and congrats on your trip Question is: Can you just eat them fresh off the fruit stand, or do you have to prepare them? How do I pick out a good one? Don't want to look stupid biting into something that should be peeled

Simple answer look for unblemished fruit which is soft and can be spongy feeling also you can eat with skin on take a small bite and if thick skin for your taste peel and eat. I prefer skin on. Hand gestures work well in Europe and you will find English is widely spoken especially in your tourist spots. Are you traveling on Costa by chance? I love to cruise. Enjoy and take it all in
Sal

How do I eat a fig? Any way I can get it, and as often as possible! lol.

Seriously, Sal's advice is sound, although some figs aren't truly ripe until the skin begins to split. I would add that you should wash any fruit you buy with BOTTLED or recently boiled water before eating. Even in the most hygienic parts of Europe, there's a chance you'll be ingesting little unfriendly microbes that your gut isn't acclimated to. You don't want to ruin your trip by coming down with Montezuma's Revenge.

Johnblake

Sal,

Thanks for the information and well wishes. I'm glad to hear that English is spoken there. I'm going to try to speak a little Italian and Spanish. But "try" is the operative word there. It's my first time in Italy and France so I'm very excited. Traveling on Royal Caribbean. I know someone who has been on several cruises with Costa and loves that cruise line.

But back to figs. Can't wait to try them either. Everyone on this site makes them sound so delicious. Also hoping I can try some from my Celeste tree this year.

Thanks again, Terri

Terri
You don't need instructions on how to eat Figs. Yesterday I Paid $10 for two pounds at my Grocery store which occasionally have some for sale. I washed it by the store Vegetable sprinkler. I wanted to share it with my wife but by the time I pulled into my Garage all I had left is one. I gave it to her, she looked at me with a sneaky smile and said "you bought just one".
I was born in Egypt to a Figs Orchard Owner. Figs to Egypt like Apples to America.
Pick the ripen one it should be dark brown and little firm. Don't forget to wash them very good. Some countries don't have the Environmental laws we have here and GOD knows what do they spray on it.
I have Brown Turky and Black Jack trees by Mid August I will be Picking some probably I will eat them faster than I pick them.
Abe

Hi Terri:

Best wishes for a wonderful time on your trip. I am sure you will receive a great education on fig eating while overseas and hope you come back and share your experiences with all of us!

I just posted a new blog about figs on my web site (noted below), including some of my favorite ways to eat them. Enjoy!

Carolyn Binder

Here is a link that might be useful: Cowlick Cottage Farm

Hi Terri,
if still unsure just watch how the locals eat them at the fruit stand.
Martin

Carolyn, Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed your web site. Here is a post which is similar to your figs with goat cheese I tried on BBQ

Here is a link that might be useful: BBQ & Figs

Thanks you, giants 2007! I am so happy you enjoyed your visit, and I hope you come again soon! This weekend, I'll be writing about mangoes, and we're going to be cooking up some mango jalapeno jam and maybe some mango raspberry jam. Can't wait!

Thanks for the new fig recipe. It will be the perfect snack between batches of jam.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cowlick Cottage Farm

Well, we're back from our cruise and I tasted my first fig in Sorrento Italy. Someone told me that only the green/yellow would be available at this time of year and they were right. I went to a fruit stand and felt a few to see if they were soft and the owner said "pleasa donta squeeza da fruit." So just to show that Americans are sympathetic to their concerns, I bought the two I squeezed. My husband laughed when I told him what the man said to me because he used to sing a song "Pleasa donta squeeza da banana" about Riley the Cop squeezing the bananas at Tony's fruit stand. He said that must have been Tony (that's my husbands name too)! So we had a good laugh and I took them and washed them and had my first fig. Unfortunately, the first was pretty bland. The second which had a yellow spot on it (instead of being all green) was a little sweeter and a little pinker on the inside. Better than the first, but still didn't knock my socks off. Although they were soft, I have a feeling they weren't at their peak of ripeness.

When I got home, my first fig tree dropped it's first ripe fig on the ground, and the ants were enjoying it. Oh well, it's a Celeste and it's fruiting out of season, I now have 13 new figlets and counting. The one that fell looked nice and juicy and very dark pink on the inside. It was much smaller than the ones I tried in Sorrento. I hope I get to taste one this year.

Terri