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FIGure it out
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Whether consumed dried or fresh, figs are calorie-rich fruits which can cure many illnesses.
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Every fruit has its secret.
The fig is a very secretive fruit.
As you see it standing growing, you feel at once it is symbolic: And it seems male.
But when you come to know it better, you agree with the Romans, it is female.
"Figs" by D.H. Lawrence (1921)
WESTERN ASIA is the birthplace of the fig, and Neolithic fossils provide evidence of cultivation and consumption from at least 7,000 years ago. The fruit first appeared in Babylonian hymns dating back to 2000 B.C.
Beginning with the leaves that covered Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the fig is the most widely mentioned fruit in the Bible.
Apparently, the Prophet Mohammed went so far as to exclaim: "If I should wish a fruit brought to Paradise, it would certainly be the fig."
The fig is a symbol of wealth, peace and happiness throughout the Middle East and the Mediterranean. The ancient Greeks believed the goddess Demeter bestowed the fig — Homer's "fruit of autumn" — upon mankind, while the Romans credited Bacchus with it. The Romans decked images of Bacchus with fig leaves and offered the first figs of the season to him. After his defeat by the Greeks, the Persian king, Xerxes, made a point of having figs from Attica served to him for dinner every night — to remind himself that he lost lands where this fruit grew. The asp that killed Cleopatra was brought hidden in a basket of her favourite fruit — figs.
Delicious raw, the fruit adds a crunchy sweetness to pies, puddings, ice creams, jams, syrup, bread, cakes and biscuits. Dried and roasted fig is a coffee substitute. About 100 gm of the fresh fruit holds 80 calories, and the dried fig contains nearly 280 calories. The fresh fruit is rich in Vitamin C, the B Vitamin Niacin, Vitamin A precursors, potassium, phosphorous and calcium. Gram for gram, the dried fruit holds more potassium, phosphorous, calcium, vitamins, iron and dietary fibre than the fresh one.
The Old Testament mentions the fig as a cure for boils, insomnia and stomach ache. Pliny, the Roman historian, claimed figs instil vigour in the young and smooth the wrinkles of the old. Mithradates, the Greek king, believed the fruit was a cure for all diseases. He made his doctors prescribe them for every illness and even ordered all the citizens of Pontus to eat figs daily.
The latex of the unripe fruit is an irritant powerful enough to blister skin. This enzyme-rich fluid finds use in cheese making, meat tenderising and beverage clarifying. The latex is an ancient cure for warts and sores. Decoction made from the fruit is a folk remedy for sore throat and inflamed gums. The fruit is alkaline and provides some relief for ulcers, and it is also one of the best natural laxatives around.
RAJIV. M
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