I don’t know why I never liked figs before.  I think it all started with my dislike of Fig Newtons, which disgust me to no end.  But when I moved to Turkey, my tastes for a lot of things changed… for the fresher.  We eat every veggie and fruit under the sun here, and a lot of them.  And it’s so easy when there’s a green grocer or pazar on every corner.  Our meat consumption has gone down (red meat completely gone for me), fish consumption UP, and it’s a rare day that we eat something fried.

It has also really helped that I’ve taken up cooking here.  I flat out never had the time for it living in NY, but now I’m really enjoying it.  I’ve even conquered some non-entry-level Turkish food like Hünkar Beğendi (lamb cubes over a bed of smoked eggplant puree), İmam Bayıldı (stuffed eggplant dish), and Etli Yaprak Dolması (grape leave rolls stuffed with meat and rice)!

Back to figs.  I don’t know who ever decided to let a fig sit out in the sun and then eat it afterwards.  I mean, have you taken a look at the things?  Not necessarily appetizing looking.   But I guess it’s more logical (and safe) than the first person who tried eating a chicken egg (who thought eating something that pops out of a chicken like that would be a good idea?).  Yes, I think about these random things.

But now I am hooked on figs… dried ones anyway.  I can’t get enough.  I’m not so into the fresh ones though, as they resemble pink brains to me.  Not so appealing.

The verdict: if it’s dried, fig it.