Purple skin and pink flesh, so easy to burst even with just a gentle squeeze—this is how real fresh figs look. Unfortunately, most of us see them dried and brown on store shelves. In Cyprus, sweet and juicy figs fill the markets from August till October. They can be eaten in a salad, with cereal, with whipped cream, on their own, or dried in a special way. Locals have their own recipe on how to best preserve figs for a long time, and it is different from what comes to our stores. You need to boil firm fruit for five minutes, then let it dry in the sun on a cloth and then reboil it with fennel seeds. Afterwards, figs will lay in the sun again and are stored in a container.
By the way, it is believed that the oldest plant in Cyprus is a huge fig tree. It grows near Famagusta in the Northern Cyprus. One can find it in front of the St Nicholas Cathedral, and botanists believe that it was planted when this cathedral was built in 1220 AD.
